Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Catch a falling scarf

FOR AGES 1-3
Ball playing can be intimidating to a child just learning to coordinate his movements. It isn’t so much the throwing of the ball, as the trying to catch and missing that can undermine a small one’s growing confidence.

Scarf catching is a great way to start feeling competent. A scarf moves so much slower than a ball that it gives wiggle room for learning.

CATCH A FALLING SCARF

MATERIALS:
Scarf (scarves if there more than one player or paper towels if no scarves are handy)
Balloon (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
Throw the scarf up in the air and have your child or children catch it out of the air as it floats down. Let him experiment tossing and catching on his own and then try tossing the scarf back and forth between you.

Encourage your child to try different ways of catching. Sometimes let the scarf fall gently down into his waiting hands. Other times have him try to snatch it out of the air or jump up to get it while it is still overhead.

For a game finale, to change the pace and speed up the action, blow up a balloon, hold it up for a moment to give your child(ren) time to get ready and then let it go. As the balloon whizzes around the room, try to catch it!

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Plenty Peanut Hunt


FOR AGES 1-9
Easter hunts can be such fun if there are plenty of eggs so everyone finds a lot. It’s not fun to have "egg envy" looking at someone else’s brimming over basket.

That’s why in this fun hunt game, competition is eliminated as there are plenty of peanuts to find and eat! And no-one has to wait until Easter to play.

PLENTY PEANUT HUNT

MATERIALS:
Plenty of roasted peanuts in the shell
baskets or bags

DIRECTIONS:
Hide peanuts all over inside and out. Put some in obvious places such as right out on the ground or carpet, and hide some away in sneakier places for the older hunters. The goal is for everyone to find lots of nuts and share them at the end, if they want.

If you don’t have peanuts handy for a spontaneous hunting game, use whatever you do have plenty of. It could hard wrapped candies, poker chips, marbles, plastic spoons or anything else that is safe for your child to find and won’t be harmed by the weather or tramping feet.

This game can be played for no other reason other than fun or it could be a party game with prizes. Some peanuts can be marked with a red dot and those who fine the red dot ones get a prize or the person who finds the most wins..

For a party, instead of peanuts, you might want to hide the party favors and make finding them a game.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Toe Stepping

Marianas Variety Saipan
Run Date: July 13, 2007


FOR ALL AGES
Here’s a fun and silly game that requires concentration and quick movement. Try it sometime at a birthday party gathering, when you want to redirect excess energy, or when the kids are bored and want something quick and new to do.

TOE STEPPING

MATERIALS:
None but fancy footwork

DIRECTIONS:
Two people, both barefoot or in stocking feet, face each other and hold hands. Each person tries to step on the others toes while at the same time keep their toes from being stepped on.

You might remind the players to step lightly on each other’s toes so that others will do the same to you. In other words, follow this game’s Golden Rule: Step on others as you would want to be stepped on.

Concentrating on both keeping out of the way and going for the goal is a kind of trial by fire. Pressure on their foot lets them know when they weren’t paying close enough attention !

Stick out your tongue

Marianas Variety Saipan
Run Date: July 6, 2007


FOR INFANTS

You don’t have to wait until your baby is older to play games. Here’s one you can play with even 3 month olds

STICK OUT YOUR TONGUE

Sticking your tongue out may make others wonder about you, but your baby will be fascinated. Think about it. The tongue looks like some lively little snake coming out of your mouth.

Having control over the tongue's movement ensures that the infant will develop the ability to form different sounds and eventually words. Try it.

MATERIALS:
You and your tongue

DIRECTIONS:
Get your child’s attention by softly calling to him and smiling. Once he notices you, stick out your tongue and waggle it a little and even add some soft sounds to keep his attention engaged. If you want, you can even gently touch his tongue to give him some sensory feedback on what part you are talking about.

Watch as he opens his mouth and begin to move his tongue. Once he gets it, add variations. Start showing him how to move his tongue in different directions. Start with side to side. Once he’s got that movement, go to up and down movements.

Play the game as long as he is interested. When he looks away or squirms, it means he’s done for now. Play again another day.

Toothpick Art

Marianas Variety Saipan
Run Date: June 29, 2007

FOR ALL AGES
There are many ways to teach the hands to have more finesse. This is one of them that you can play together.

TOOTHPICK ART

MATERIALS:
Toothpicks, plain or colored

DIRECTIONS:
Make an abstract design by laying toothpicks out on a table or floor, with each player adding their toothpick to the design. The first player puts down one toothpick and the next adds his at just the angle that seems pleasing to him. The next person then adds theirs to that design and so on and so on until an interesting design is formed.

Instead of an abstract design, you can make a specific scene. For example, make a house with a picket fence and trees with both of you doing different parts of the scene.

It takes concentration to pick up a skinny toothpick and decide the best place to put it. Placing each toothpick down carefully and trying not to jiggle the design encourages awareness of hand movements.

It also develops the pincer grasp, the small muscles that control the index finger and thumb.
But mainly, it’s fun to make art together.

Jumping on Newspaper

Marianas Variety Saipan
Run Date: June 22, 2007

FOR AGES 2-12
When you finish reading the daily paper, don’t throw it away, use it for a game for your kids!

JUMPING ON NEWSPAPER

MATERIALS:
Newspaper and tape

DIRECTIONS:
Tape down 6-9 newspaper sections.

Start off simply by asking the children to jump forward from the first section to the next. Let them do it a few times. Make the rule to always start from the first section and jump on each section until the last one so noone will bump into each other going both ways.

Then, start to get fancy and give different directions depending on the age of the child.

Jump sideways, right side leading
Jump sideways, left side leading
Jump backwards
Jump to every other one
Jump to every third one
Hop on the left foot
Hop on the right foot
Jump to every other square
Jump to every third one, if possible
Jump and twirl before landing
Make a giant leap and aim for the farthest one they can reach.

Moms and Dads can get turns too!

Balloon Baseball

Marianas Variety Newspaper
Run Date: June 15, 2007

FOR AGES 1-5
Baseball may be fun but those little balls can hurt and are hard to hit. For young ones, use a balloon!

BALLOON BASEBALL

MATERIALS:
Balloon
Bat: Make a bat out of anything handy, such as the inside cardboard tube of a paper towel roll or a rolled up section of yesterdays newspaper secured with tape.

If you want a bat that will last, try using a large two-liter soft-drink plastic bottle, the kind soft drinks come in. Cut a dowel or stick to fit inside the opening of the plastic bottle. Wrap some duct tape around the dowel and bottle opening to keep it secure and viola; you have a nifty bat (or hockey stick or golf club.)

DIRECTIONS:
Give the bat to your player and toss the balloon at her. The slow movements of a balloon floating towards her gives her plenty of time to line up her bat, swing at the ‘ball" and get the satisfaction of "connecting."

If there is just the two of you, take turns being the pitcher/catcher and the batter.

If there are other players, their job is catching the "ball" as it leisurely floats down. Who ever catches it can have the next turn at batting or give it to someone who hasn’t had enough turns.

After everyone gets all the turns they want, you can change the game to "Golf". Use boxes turned on their sides as "holes" and players see how many strokes it takes to hit the balloon in the box.

Whose head is in the clouds?

Marianas Variety Saipan
Run Date: June 8, 2007

FOR ALL AGES

Usually, having your head in the clouds means the opposite of paying attention, but in this game, you need to focus all of your attention on clouds. We all know that clouds make fantastic shapes, but usually we forget to take the time to notice. In this whimsical game, if you both see the exact same thing in the shape of a cloud, it’s a fun bonding experience.

WHOSE HEAD IS IN THE CLOUDS?
MATERIALS:
None but a lovely day full of clouds

DIRECTIONS:
When sitting outside, lying on the beach or looking out a window, take turns looking around for an identifiable shape in the clouds. Point out different parts of the shape until you can all see it,. "See the puffy headed dinosaur? That long trailing part is the tail and that lump at the other end is the puffy head with a round nose."

After you’ve identified a bunch of creatures, you can make up stories about what they are doing up there together!