Rose Garalde
Desperate times don’t always call for desperate measures. Yes, you’re facing up to the prospect of being behind closed doors with your kids for an elongated period of time. But no, you don’t have to solely rely on your tablet, phone, laptop or television.
The Inventory involves asking your kid to count loads of stuff around the house, and I love it for three reasons. First, it has significantly improved my son’s counting ability. Second, you can keep eating up time by adding to the list of things to count. Third, it has helped me prove to my other half that we really do have too many boxes, cushions and Allen keys.
Perfect for bulk buyers, this all-action game features two parts. Part one sees you challenge your child to build a tower, wall or pyramid using all the four-packs of toilet roll you have in the cupboard (note: two-packs of kitchen towel work just as well). And part two sees you challenge them to knock down their tower, wall or pyramid by throwing a ball or cushion at it.
I devised this game when I was attempting to keep my son away from the cooker while I was making dinner. The idea is simple and pleasantly time-consuming. He has to scan the kitchen and come up with an item that begins with each letter of the alphabet (e.g. apple for A, tap for T). Important note: no, we never have anything for X. Important note II: bored with the kitchen? Fear not, this game also works in other rooms.
This game is a tweak of the Find the Card game I featured in my popular Christmas Lunch with a toddler: 5 table games that’ll help you get through it post. It sees you take a credit, gym membership or library card out of your wallet, hide it somewhere in the house and challenge your kid to find it. Positives of this game include the fact it can last a good 15-20 minutes. Negatives of this game include the fact your kids can completely wreck your house while searching. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
Does your kid have a RIDICULOUS number of cars/dolls/pieces of LEGO/trains/cuddly toys/unicorns? I feel your pain, but I also sense an opportunity to create a time-consuming game. Here’s how it works…
Ask your kid to place every single car/doll/piece of LEGO/train/cuddly toy/unicorn that they own in the middle of their bedroom or play area
Get them to line them up nicely (note: this step has no real benefit, but it does eat up a lot of time)
Get them to count how many cars/dolls/pieces of LEGO/trains/cuddly toys/unicorns that they own
Make bath time more fun by letting your kid take a bouncy ball and a plastic cup into the bath. And then? Well, then you get them to try throwing the ball into the cup, bouncing the ball into the cup, rolling the ball round the side of the bath and into the cup, bouncing the ball off two sides of the bath and into the cup, etc. etc. etc.
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