Does the poor air quality due to fires have you feeling down and cooped up? Here are three simple activities to infuse playfulness into your home:
1. What’s Missing? Memory Game (2 or more players)
- Find things in your house that are easy to carry. (Ie slotted spoon, toy car, key chain, crayon, small stuffed animal)
- Put them on a table or floor space.
- Look at each item and agree on what to call it.
- Cover items with a piece of large fabric.
- One player reaches under the fabric and sneakily removes one item without revealing what they moved.
- Uncover the remaining items and guess which item is missing.
- If the guesser has no idea what is missing, offer hints.
*Variation: Gather items of the same color or items that all start with the same letter.
2. Mystery Message Scavenger Hunt (2 or more players)
- Write a single sentence message on a piece of paper.
- Cut the paper so that each word is on a a separate piece.
- Hide those pieces of paper around a room or your entire living space.
- Find the papers and assemble the message.
3. Hideout
- Get out some sheets and pillows.
- Take apart your couch.
- Hang sheets over the arms of the couch or nearby chairs/tables.
It’s amazing how simply having a cozy/underneath hideaway space delights young ones.
Familiar activities suddenly take on a new thrill: books, puzzles, and drawing can be more fun when inside the mysterious nook.
Here’s to finding playful ways to connect regardless of the air quality.
Photo credit
Bottom photo: David B. Gleason, license info here
