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Games of the Past Meet the Present
By: Brandie Valenzuela
Recently, our family had the
opportunity to care for sisters' children for a couple days, when she
and her husband traveled to a bed and breakfast for some much need
rest and relaxation. They don't have a chance to get away that
often, so I was more than happy to help them out for this little
getaway. And, well, I would hope that she would do the same thing for
me.
Once I agreed to taking care of her children, reality set in. My
sister has six children, and while the youngest wouldn't be staying
with me, all the others would be. Add those five children to my
three, you have eight, and add that to my small apartment and you have
enough to drive any mom up a wall! How would I keep eight
children occupied in my small home, without spending a lot of money?
One of the first activities we played was Twister. Twister was a gift
for Christmas, so it was a game the children were still learning.
As I watched them play, my I started thinking about the games my
siblings and I played as children -- those easy games that usually
required no extra supplies. There
were six of us, and I can remember keeping ourselves occupied with old
favorites such as "Mother May I?" and "Old Maid".
After reminiscing, I decided that I would take this opportunity to
teach them these favorite games.
I am not sure who had more fun with it, but I taught them several of
the games I played as a young child, and everyone had the greatest
time. I taught them "Red Light, Green Light" and "Red
Rover", among others. Even the older children had fun
playing "London Bridge" for the sake of the little ones.
Want to know the best part? It has been over a week since I
taught the kids these games, and on several occasions, I have caught
them playing them on their own. Now, what could be better than
that?
I encourage you to think back to some of your favorite childhood
games. Did you love to play "Simon Says"? When
was the last time you built a hopscotch? Do your children even
know that there is actually a way to play marbles? Think of your
favorites, and start teaching them to your children. Not only do
most of these games require very little supplies, if any, but they
show your children that there are fun activities that don't have to be
plugged in.
If you need some inspiration, the following websites offer
instructions on many popular childhood games:
"Games Kids Play"
http://www.gameskidsplay.net/index.html
"Parent Soup: Games"
http://www.parentsoup.com/archive/0,9372,263145,00.html
"PBS: Zoom"
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/zoom/games/index.html
©2002 Brandie
Valenzuela
Brandie is a freelance writing mother of three children. She
is also the editor of the Family First Newsletter, the
HomeMade Living ezine, and other services for parents.
To find out more about Brandie's creations, visit:
http://www.bmvcreations.com |
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