Play These Pencil and Paper Games With Your Child
When raising children, it often happens that you are somewhere with your child waiting for something to happen. You may be waiting for the doctor to call you back to make an appointment, waiting for your food to arrive at the restaurant, or waiting for the plane to land. You have something to do, so you turn the restaurant’s paper menu or take an old receipt from your wallet and play a little game to pass the time.
However, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut playing the same games over and over until they become almost as boring as waiting around. I asked our Facebook group Offspring to name my favorites so I could change them a bit. And they did not disappoint.
Tic-tac-toe
This may be overly obvious, but this is our personal recommendation, so I have to include it. I have to assume that you all know how to play this, but you may not realize that you might beplaying against the computer if you ever find yourself alone in a waiting room and tired of social media. The “impossible” level is really disappointing.
(By the way, did anyone else call the game of tic-tac-toe a “cat game”? I never thought of it as odd until I started playing it with my son a few years ago. First time we are tethered, I drew a big one. ” the C ‘and was like, “Ah, cats game!”, and he was like, «whaaaaa?» I did not doubt myself that it was the real thing, since then, but apparently it is, although it is not really possible to agree with where it came from.)
Executioner / Snowman
The Executioner is a classic game in which children can practice their spelling and vocabulary in the style of the Wheel of Fortune. With a cruel twist, if you get the letters wrong too many times, the figurine will hang to death.
For a less violent option, we recommend that you build a snowman instead of hanging a person, but to each his own.
Point game
According to pretty much every parent in our Facebook group, I’ve obviously been missing out on a lot of fun my whole life because I’ve never played the dot game .
Since I’ve never played it, I’ll let group member Kristen explain, “You draw dots in rows and each person in turn connects one line segment of the square at a time. The goal is to be the first to complete the square and then enter your initials into it to get a point. “
Lily says: “I loved playing this game with my dad when I was a kid. We played in such a way that if you finished the square, you also have to make another line. Eventually there came a point where the board was so filled with lines that completing a square triggered a chain reaction of squares, which was absolutely exciting as a child. “
Trace your hand
You probably think I’m going to suggest you turn it into a turkey, which we all did, and that would be a timely thing. And that’s okay, do it if you want. But if you prefer a fun twist, you can do the same as a member of Julia’s group: “We draw the hands, and then draw jewelry and fancy nail polish, etc.”
I so want to do it right now, at my desk, alone, damn it, but instead I’ll keep working.
The picture of the aftermath
There are many possible variations on this, but the basic idea, according to one of the group members, is to fold a piece of paper in thirds and draw the creature / monster together. Someone draws a head, folds what they drew and passes on to the next, showing only the lines of the neck. The second draws the torso, folds and transfers, and the next draws the legs. The end product is sure to be a sight to behold.
(Some people also call this Exquisite Corpse , which is a surprising name, but actually refers to a more piquant version created by the Surrealists in the 1930s.)
If you have any other favorites that I’m missing here, add them in the comments so we can all diversify our pencil-and-paper repertoire a bit.