Tag Archives: simple games

Fun With Laundry and Towels

When I cleaned out our linen closet the other day I ended up making a huge pile of towels and sheets in the hallway. The kids laughed at the mountain of linens. I told them it used to be one of their favorite games, but they didn’t believe me. Truly though, if you have a toddler in the house, pile all the cushions, blankets, and towels together to make a mountain. They will have great fun climbing up the pile and rolling down. You can even sing mountain songs like “She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain” and “The Bear Climbed … Continue reading →

Sidewalk Chalk Games

Break out the sidewalk chalk and think big! With a yard stick, or a board to use for a straight edge, your kids can use the chalk to draw a giant checkerboard or chess game on the driveway or patio. As a plus, it takes a while to color in all those squares! And it’s a good lesson in measuring and parallel lines. For checkers you can use different colors of paper plates. For chess pieces, you could draw pictures on the plates, or even use stuffed animals. I’m thinking the kids could even be markers themselves and play a … Continue reading →

String Figure Fun

Did you ever play with a piece of string and make a cup and saucer, or a broom, or Jacob’s Ladder? Using string to make shapes and figures is an old game. According to Cat’s Cradle by Anne Akers Johnson, people around the world have made string figures for ages including the Arctic Inuit who made reindeer and wolves out of string, and the Navajo made coyotes and owls. All you really need to play string games is a loop of string and two hands. A few string patterns need the loan a friend’s hand, but most don’t need any … Continue reading →

Boredom Busters: Simple Games

With a little imagination, nearly anything can be made into a simple game. You can use kitchen items and dried foods, or coins, beads, and recyclable items. These types of simple games make great boredom busters any time, but they also work great to fill time or keep kids busy while you make other preparations during parties. Penny Pitch *Supervision is required for young children due to the use of small items that could be swallowed. Use large muffin tins as game boards and have children pitch pennies into the muffin cups. There are different ways to play and different … Continue reading →