Into each life a little rain must fall and in our neck of the woods, it’s buckets of snow that rain down as cabin fever sets in. The best remedy for youngsters’ cries and sighs of ‘I’m bored’ is an arsenal of easy, active games that you can play indoors, one-on-one with your child or with others joining in, using simple things like balloons, socks, rope, scarves, paper and a sense of fun. Best of all, there’s no right or wrong way to play them. Don’t forget to let your child lead you in play sometimes!
Jumping Joy
Kids love to jump, and after playing jumping games, they’re much more alert and present. I’ve played this game thousands of times with children all over the world. It’s always a winner.
Directions
Secure one end of a piece of rope, string or long scarf to something solid and hold the other end, or have two people each hold an end. Start with the rope down low. Players jump over the rope, from either a running or standing start. Then raise the rope a smidgen and have them do it again, raising it each turn until it’s too high for anyone to jump over. Then send the players under the rope, starting high, then lowering it until the kids have to crawl on their bellies to get under it without touching it. Add a twist by pretending that the rope is sizzling hot and they’d better be careful not to touch it! Children enjoy this kind of danger-less danger.
Jumping Joy helps children learn to modify and control their energy to accomplish a goal. It takes more energy to jump over a higher rope than a lower one. They also learn to plan their movements. If they are to go under a rope that is lower than it was previously, they have to organize their movements so that they are closer to the ground.
Wiggly Snake
Wiggly Snake is good for children who are too young to jump rope, or for rope jumpers looking for a new game.
Directions
Hold one end of a rope and let the other end trail on the floor or ground. Gently shake your end so that the rope wiggles. As you walk around, the child tries to step on the wiggly snake and make it stop. How quickly or slowly you move the rope away from the stomping foot can make the game wonderfully challenging, annoyingly frustrating or very easy. Start easy, until you and the players get the sense of the game, and then up the challenge. If you have more than one player, let each take a turn controlling the rope. Their unique style will affect the game. Remind the rope holder that the rope must stay in contact with the ground.
In this game, children learn eye-foot coordination and balance. They’re also improving their reflexes, because they have only a millisecond to stomp on the rope before it moves on.
Leap, Run and Slalom
This game uses any kind of paper or other material that’s handy and fits the motor skills of your players.
Directions
Lay one piece of paper down as home base, and then lay another piece down in front of home base. Each player leaps over that piece, starting from home base. Keep adding pieces of paper, one at a time, until the player needs to jump over them all! The challenge is progressive. Kids may get excited and want you to put all the papers down right away so they can immediately leap over all of them. But by doing it a piece at a time, they learn to feel the difference between using all their strength when leaping and using just a little.
Kids can leap from a running start, or they can jump from a standing position.
Variations
Slalom run. Lay pieces of paper out in a line, each one about 12 inches from the other. The children run, weaving in and out between the sections like a slalom skier.
Two or more kids go together, the one(s) behind holding the waist of the one in front.
Playing the leaping game, children learn about modifying their force, especially good for kids who sometimes hit or bump harder than they mean to. Playing the slalom game, children learn to ‘motor plan,’ internally planning their movements so they can keep changing directions as needed.
‘Gentle Ball’ Games
‘Gentle ball’ games make it possible for everyone, regardless of age or skill level, to play ball together. They’re easily made from newspaper, plastic bags or beans in a sock, or can be store-bought beach balls, foam balls, beanbags or scarves.
Directions
Make gentle balls or, better yet, have the players make their own. Scrunch up pages of newspaper into a ball shape, putting tape or cloth around it to keep that shape. Or put a few plastic bags into one bag, twist the top and fasten in any way that keeps it closed and in a ball shape. Or place dried beans into the toe of a sock and knot the top.
If you use store-bought balls, here are some things to consider:
Beach balls, large and lightweight, are easier to catch than small balls.
Foam balls are good for grasping.
Beanbags feel good and never roll away.
Scarves fall gently when tossed in the air, giving the catcher more time to make the catch, and little fingers can grasp them easily with one hand.
To play, call out these instructions. Give the players time to try out each idea:
Throw low, then throw high and catch with two hands.
Throw the ball up and clap (once, twice, three times) before catching.
Start low and catch with one hand, alternating hands.
Catch the ball underhand by letting it fall into a cupped hand.
Catch the ball overhand by grabbing the falling ball out of the air.
Put the ball on the backs of your hands. Toss it up and catch it.
Catch the ball with one eye closed. Catch it with both eyes closed!
Throw the ball up high, turn around in a circle and catch it.
Walk and keep the ball in the air by bouncing it off the backs of your hands.
These games promote eye-hand coordination, paving the way for such later skills as writing words, putting the tiniest tile into an intricate mosaic or measuring the exact ingredients for a recipe.
Adapted from Smart Play: 101 Fun, Easy Games that Enhance Learning, by Barbara Sher (2004), www.gameslady.com.
Award-winning author Barbara is an internationally popular occupational therapist specializing in developing children’s natural love of play to enhance sensory, motor and social skills. A tireless advocate of the vanishing art of kid’s play, Barbara’s books and workshops have enlightened and inspired parents, caregivers and teachers worldwide in 10 languages.
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