home games

Welcome November, and welcome cooler weather... we are loving your rain and cold wind today. Since we couldn't do much outdoors, we played at home a lot today. Ava likes to dress up in her "princess" attire still, and since I haven't put up my Halloween decorations yet, Ava asked if we could hide them around the house and then race to find them. Sure! Why not? Let's get more life out of these before they get stowed for the year.

"Hunts" are an I-did-it kind of achievement for the kids. Since it was such a hit for Easter, we've been incorporating it into our parties ever since... like Noah's birthday car party... and now Halloween. And it doesn't have to be a fill-able container either. Just something big enough to see, small enough to hide, and a lot of them to find of course...





What I love about games (besides how much the kids have fun with them) is that there are learning opportunities to go with it. Ava and Noah found 11 pumpkins... how many are still left? Addition, subtraction - they get excited thinking about it. There's still 4 more out there... and the chase continues...



Another fun game we play that originated when the kids pulled the draw strings of my yoga pants one day, and I pulled back - taking both Ava and Noah in one swoop to the floor - They cracked up. Ever since then, this incident has turned into a game for them (similar to tug-of-war), and they pretend they are "hauling" me to one side of the room. While they pull with each step, we all say, "Hee-Ho" (not sure where that came from) and Ava and Noah have to work together to pull and reach the door to win. But this rarely happens, because the fun is in me pulling back to my side of the room, where they hang on for dear life, and slide on their stomachs across the floor (still holding on). I've lost some draw strings as a result, so we now use a tape measure. Plus... Aaron can play too. This is such a great game in the evening to get some energy flowing again at the end of a work day...







I love home games - and I love that the kids can turn whatever they see into one. Our dog Zoe doesn't want to miss the action either, and she will follow us back and forth - sometimes sacrificing getting her jungle paws stepped on (she's been called Jungle dog as of late since we haven't had her groomed in awhile).

As long as there is movement, challenge, (and learning) involved, we are all in to play. Granted... knees and arms do get bruised lovely shades of purple - but that's part of childhood isn't it? At least we're not falling from trees or anything... (yet)...

What home games do you enjoy or remember as a child?