10 Days Of Group Games: #8 Bubble Wrap Pop!

Whether or not you're celebrating holidays this time of year, most people are thinking about family right now. And many of us are going to be seeing extended family soon. In that spirit, we thought that it would be fun to post some of our favorite games to play with 2 or more kids that don't require too much adult guidance. Check in over the next 10 days for more fun game ideas!

#8 Bubble Wrap Pop!
It's that time of the year for lots of cheer and yes, lots of left over bubble wrap.  Last week in our kids fitness classes we pretended to use the bubble wrap as life vest and swam across the ocean wearing them.  Next we spread all the bubble wrap on the floor and pretended to be underwater animals who like to pop the bubbles!    *One quick shout out to our local market, Grapevine, for generously donating a box full of left over bubble wrap for us to reuse in all of our classes! They told me I could be their official bubble lady (I'll be back every month for another box full!).
Pop Away!

Life vest!

High Jumps!

10 Days of Group Games: #7 the 2 Minute Dance Party

Whether or not you're celebrating holidays this time of year, most people are thinking about family right now. And many of us are going to be seeing extended family soon. In that spirit, we thought that it would be fun to post some of our favorite games to play with 2 or more kids that don't require too much adult guidance. Check in over the next 10 days for more fun game ideas!

#7: the 2 Minute Dance Party!

2 minute dance parties are always a big hit at our house. Is your son in a funk? Throw on some James Brown! Is your daughter bouncing off the walls? Put on some Oingo Boingo! The whole family is just a little off? Nothing that Sly & the Family Stone won't fix. There's something about calling a 2 minute dance party that sets everything right. Because sometimes all of the energy that's flying around the house just needs to be focused instead of quieted down. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

Here's what to do:

• Whenever you need the family (especially the kids) to switch gears, just throw on some of your favorite music and start a dance party! I love '2 minute dance parties' because you can use this activity as a transition. And, depending on how it goes, you can keep dancing until you're worn out, or you can move on to something else once the song is done.
• Use the opportunity to expose your kids to new music! Try some reggae, some afro-funk, British invasion, punk, classical, doo-wop... anything you'd like! You never know what kind of music is going to speak to a child. How was I to know that Rowan's favorite band would be Siouxie & the Banshees?
• Use the opportunity to expand their imagination. Ask them what they see when a certain song comes on. Do they see a ballroom of dancing princesses when a baroque waltz is played? Or do they see dinosaurs playing in a jungle when you put on some David Bowie? Are they flying through space when New Order comes onto the stereo?
• Join in the fun! This is a great way to bond with your family & friends. And it's good for your body and your mind. We could all afford to burn a few extra calories, especially when it's accompanied by laughter & song.
• Try a 'freeze' dance. You can do this manually (just pause the song periodically) or you can find songs that have built-in 'freezes'. Try this one: http://lollyhopwood.bandcamp.com/track/freeze (shameless plug!). You can make a game out of the 'freeze dance' if the spirit moves you. Anyone who moves when the music is frozen is 'out'. The last one standing wins! Or you can keep it light and just keep the 'freezing' going until the song is done. Try freezing like your favorite animals. Or do a funny-face-freeze. Either way, it's a fun game.

None of us have to be reminded these days that the time that we have with our kids is precious. Hugs & kiss them! Love them! Play & dance with them! We'll all be glad that we did.

10 Days of Group Games: #6 Newspaper Pirate Hats

 Whether or not you're celebrating holidays this time of year, most people are thinking about family right now. And many of us are going to be seeing extended family soon. In that spirit, we thought that it would be fun to post some of our favorite games to play with 2 or more kids that don't require too much adult guidance. Check in over the next 10 days for more fun game ideas!

Game #7: Newspaper Pirate Hat

One of my favorite memories at Christmas dinner was of my grandfather and I wearing homemade paper hats for no reason but to be silly and enjoy the festivities! So, I broke out this tradition in my kids fitness class today and together we created them and danced all around.  We pretended they were our pirate hats, but of course anytime is a good time to make a party hat! 

Quick and Easy Instructions:

1. Find a piece of newspaper (this is the most difficult part b/c for it to fit on a child’s head you want to get a smaller sized paper.  I used the grocery ads that come in the mail.)

2. Fold the paper in half

3. Take the top right and left corner and fold it in towards the middle while leaving 1 – 2 inches of paper below. Press the edges down.

4. Fold the top sheet of the bottom up two times.

5. Flip the paper and repeat.

6.  Either fold the corners over or place a piece of tape on the ends to prevent it from coming undone.

IT'S PARTY TIME!  ~ Yvonne

10 days of group games: #5 - FORTS!

Whether or not you're celebrating holidays this time of year, most people are thinking about family right now. And many of us are going to be seeing extended family soon. In that spirit, we thought that it would be fun to post some of our favorite games to play with 2 or more kids that don't require too much adult guidance. Check in over the next 10 days for more fun game ideas!

#5. FORTS!

I don't think this one needs much explanation. Nothing sets a child's imagination going like a home-made fort. It's great for one kids or a whole group of them.

Here are some of my suggestions:

• Use binder clips for a secure hold. They're an easy way to attach sheets and blankets to just about anything.
• Find something to prop up the center of the fort. This is obviously optional, but a tall chair, a music stand, or a coat rack can make the fort so much bigger. The bigger the fort, the more fun you'll have!
• Create little cubbies of activity within the fort. The best one that we ever made was attached to Rowan's dollhouse (just in case she wanted to play with dolls) and her bed (which created a great cubby which she could use as a place for her stuffed animals, a lookout, a reading nook, or anything else she could think of.
• Let there be light! Make sure the kids have flashlights, a safe lamp, or some other light source.
• If you have a lot of kids around, think about making 2 forts. They can play 2 teamed games and the forts could be the home base for each team. Or each fort could be designed with a certain age group in mind.
• I know you're going to want to take this project over. This is one of those things that throws you right back into your own childhood and it's easy to want to just make the whole fort yourself. But try to supervise, help & guide your kids rather than take over the whole project.

Happy fort building!

10 Days of Games: #4 Ice Cube Melt

Whether or not you're celebrating holidays this time of year, most people are thinking about family right now. And many of us are going to be seeing extended family soon. In that spirit, we thought that it would be fun to post some of our favorite games to play with 2 or more kids that don't require too much adult guidance. Check in over the next 10 days for more fun game ideas!

Game #4:
The Ice Cube Melt is a super simple and silly game and quite apropos for this time of the year too!  Plus, no equipment necessary!

How to play:

1. Start by asking: "What items in our house or outside are cold?"   Examples might be a refrigerator, ice cubes, or snow flakes.  

2. Next, ask the kiddos to pretend to be like a frozen ice cube (they can stand, sit or be in any position they like as long as they are staying completely still). 

3. You (or a family member) get to pretend to be a giant blow dryer and melt just one part of their body.  Do this by saying the body part out loud and exclaim, “Tada, your nose is melted!”  Or pretend to blow hot air to melt them. 

4. Whatever part you melted the child is allowed to move… but nothing else.  Then melt another part and ask them to move just those two areas.  Repeat while giving them a chance to try moving the new areas, until the whole body is melted.  This could take about a minute or as long as you like.  It’s quite silly to see them just move around on one melted foot and arm while still keeping everything else still!

5. Next, have them freeze back up again and try to melt in a different sequence.  The best part is that it can be different every time.

Options: 

A. Have the children decide which body part to melt.

B. Pretend to be frozen with them.  You can take turns calling out a different body part that each of you can now melt.  
C. Pretend to be a dragon blowing a fire breath... or other things that blow hot air!  ;) 

10 days of group games: #3 - Scarf toss!

Whether or not you're celebrating holidays this time of year, most people are thinking about family right now. And many of us are going to be seeing extended family soon. In that spirit, we thought that it would be fun to post some of our favorite games to play with 2 or more kids that don't require too much adult guidance. Check in over the next 10 days for more fun game ideas!

#3. Scarf Toss

We play this game at almost all of our shows and it's absolutely one of our favorites. All you need is some light scarves. You can even make them yourself with fabric & scissors.

Here's how you play:  

Set the scene by coming up with some kind of adventure. What are these scarves? Are they birds? Snow flakes? Butterflies? Then you count. One. Two. Three. And toss!  

Variations:

• Once they're comfortable with tossing & catching, try having the kids catch the scarves on their heads, their noses, their feet, their backs, or anywhere else they can think of.
• Get the kids to toss it to each other. 
• Have them throw the scarf in the air, spin, and then catch it behind their backs.
• The older the kids, the more difficult you can make the game. Can they toss it high up and then run and catch their friends scarf instead?

Once they get the idea, they can play on their own for ages. This game can be blast with brightly colored balloons, too. However you play it, the object is to use your imagination and have lots of fun. Enjoy!

10 days of group games: #2 - A Bucket Of Fun

Whether or not you're celebrating holidays this time of year, most people are thinking about family right now. And many of us are going to be seeing extended family soon. In that spirit, we thought that it would be fun to post some of our favorite games to play with 2 or more kids that don't require too much adult guidance. Check in over the next 10 days for more fun game ideas!

I love playing this simple and easy game in my classroom, because it gives each child an opportunity to have an active role in the games we play.  Cut up a bunch of paper and give a few strips to each person in the family.  Have them write down their favorite active game or draw a picture of what it should look like.  Fun examples could be: pillow fight, tag, hide and seek, sock toss or create a brand new game!  Next, fold it up and place it in a bucket, or another special container.  For little ones you could name it something fun like a jiggle jar, or a treasure chest.   Everyday one person in the family gets to pick out one of the pieces of paper and everyones gets to do the activity together!   

What silly things do you do around the house?