Don't Forget About the Game Closet!

Today was not going well. 
In the morning they went to a little community soccer camp for a few hours.
I did my best to make suggestions of fun things to do throughout the day.
But, in the afternoon, they watched movies, played video games, read books, and FOUGHT with each other!!!
I was trying to make dinner and each one of them earned a time out for various reasons. Just one of those days.
So, while I was waiting for dinner to cook, I decided to teach my oldest to play a card game, Crazy 8s. He really liked it. And, it helped to separate all of the boys for a while.
Then, I played a board game with the 5 year old.
Sometimes I just forget about all of the games we have in our hall closet.

Here are some of our favorites:

• Zingo (it's like Bingo, but w/ pictures - no reading necessary)
• Jr. Scrabble
• Guess Who?
• Memory
• Chutes & Ladders
• Slap Jack (played w/ face cards)  Directions
• Crazy 8s (played w/ face cards) Directions

*What are some of your kid's favorite games?

and,

What ages are they best for?*

I Like to Try...

Came across a cool site called  Little Passports recently.
I wish I would have seen it at the beginning of the summer.
It's so great for kids to learn about life outside their own country.
Pay for a subscription and you get a traveling kit mailed to you.
Each month, your child will be mailed info. and activities about a certain country, along with online activities.
I think I could just pay for one subscription and by 2 oldest could share...

How Cool is This Guy?

Came across this blog a few days ago.

He has some really unique cutout things.

I love how everything is so simple yet creative.

Check him out.

We'll be making these to take when the boys need to sit still for a while and have something to do.

(car rides, restaurants, etc...) Did I just say restaurants? Hmmm... Can't remember the last time...

Building Discs

Are your boys into helicopters? This one looks and fun too.

One more. There are other fun things on his site. These were just some of my favorites.

This is a great tool for those learning their letters. You could really use it as a learning tool for almost anything your child needs to work on. And, it's practically free. It's made of rocks! This guy is clever!

We'll be working on something really fun this weekend.

If all goes well, I'll post an awesome boy project on Monday!

FREEZE DANCE

This is a great game.

All you need is some music
and
some
kids!

Turn on some music and let them dance!
(which for boys usually means karate chops, jumping off the couch, front rolls, air kicks...)

Then, when the music stops, they freeze!

We did this a lot last year when I did a co-op preschool with some other moms.

It was a good way to kill time constructively while we waited for their moms to pick them up.

Variation: Take turns being a leader. Everyone has to copy your dance moves.

Batman Birthday Party

I have a hard time spending $ on birthday parties. People just go waaaay overboard when it comes to decor., cakes, party favors, food, etc...
Hundreds of dollars later...
It's just not my thing.
Maybe I'm just too lazy and too cheap.
Whatever the reason, I keep it as simple as possible while still celebrating and making it special for my guys.

A few months ago we had a great birthday party at the house for my second born who requested a Batman party.

Thought I'd share some the games we played.

1) We started off with a game of Batman Charades. I printed small pictures of Batman characters from the internet and put them in an envelope. Each child took a turn picking a picture card and acting out that character. They especially loved when someone picked Cat Woman and had to act like a girl!

2) We also played "Shoot the Villains". I pritned out several Batman villains's pictures onto cardstock, taped them to popsicle sticks, and stuck them in the ground around the yard. Each of the boys got to run around the yard and shoot the villains with a Nerf gun.

3) Last, we played Dodgeball. All the boys had to pretend to be Batman villains while the boy that was "It" tried to hit them with a volleyball that had Batman symbols all over it.

Everyone had a fun time and it wasn't too much work, or money for me!