Archive for the ‘Games & Creative Play’ Category
Winter Adventure Guide
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
Image from The Happy Family Movement Winter Adventure Guide
My friends over at the Happy Family Movement put together a Winter Adventure Guide. It’s a list of 15 fun activities, printable resources and lessons learned to help get you and the kids get through winter in the most playful way possible. They even went so far as to break up the activities into three categories, those taking: under an hour, one to two hours and three to four hours. All of the activities use materials you have around the house. And if you don’t, they’re provided as printables.
To download a copy, visit their store. The guide costs $15, which works out to just a $1 an activity. It’s a great resource of playful ideas the whole family will love.
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Scenes from the Weekend
Monday, January 30th, 2012
Dave snapping pics at theTreasure Map Play Date
This weekend we held a collaborative play date with (cool) progeny, aMuse Toys, and Childhood List. The idea, inspired by BIG Kids Magazine, was to celebrate the treasures of Baltimore by making a big ol’ treasure map. Heather came up with the genius plan, and provided snacks and giveaways for the kids; Claudia provided art materials, space and take-home gifts, her ridiculously talented staff painted a backdrop for the photo booth (aww yeah, MICA students!); Katie produced a brilliant map foundation; Dave took pictures and I made some silly props. We had an insanely good time. (more…)
Posted in Arts & Crafts, Games & Creative Play | No Comments »
Treasures of Baltimore
Thursday, January 26th, 2012
What's on our Baltimore treasure map? Why Fifi, food trucks, Fort McHenry, Walters Art Museum, Charm City Cakes, and the harbor of course
A conversation I had last week went something like this…
Heather: “I have this idea for getting a whole gaggle of kids together to make a treasure map, integrating the whole big idea of collaboration. You want in?” (more…)
Posted in Arts & Crafts, Games & Creative Play | 2 Comments »
Magic Tricks | Make a Penny Disappear
Tuesday, January 17th, 2012
Watch as we make this penny disappear using nothing more than this drinking glass.
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Halloween Games
Saturday, October 8th, 2011
Looking for some old school Halloween games the kids can play with their friends? Well, I stepped into the Classic Play way back machine and dug around in the archives. Check out what I found… (more…)
Posted in Games & Creative Play, Parties & Celebrations | No Comments »
Spy Games III
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
Do you remember as a kid going shopping with your parents for something painfully boring like a car or furniture? There was never anything to do and you got in trouble for running around like loons, bouncing on furniture, and causing general mischief and mayhem.
When I was a kid, I have this vivid memory of the family going suit shopping with my father. He had gotten a new job. Naturally, this event called for a new suit. So my mom and dad packed up the four of us kids and drove 30 minutes to a town that had a suit shop. After what felt like an eternity, my dad walked out with a brown suit and a sports jacket with hideously-wide baby blue gingham stripes. That jacket was so ugly, my mom wouldn’t let him wear it. In fact, it sat in the back of his closet covered in plastic wrap for years. It was like it came with its own hazmat suit to protect us from it. The jacket would never see the light of day. It became the stuff of family folklore, like the time my dad set off fireworks under a tree. But that’s a story for another day.
A couple weeks ago, the kids and I went suit shopping with Dave. And this time, I was the one yelling at the kids: Stop running around. Stop squabbling. Do not crawl on the floor. Put down those straight pins. They’re not toys. Do you know what’ll feel like to get a pin stuck straight into your knee? No? Well, let me tell you, it’ll hurt. And don’t pick them up. The floor is filthy! Do you know how many people walk on this floor every day?
It was exhausting. We needed to shift strategies because I could not go on like this.
So I called the kids over and told them I was recruiting them for spy school. They’d need to first learn the ways of an operative—quiet, stealth and how to blend.
To develop their stealthy surveillance skills, I told them they had to monitor me while I picked up three objects. Then they had to use their memory to recall the three items I picked up. After that, I asked them if they could tell who I was shopping for based on the items. Sadly, this only lasted one round because we were in the men’s department. There were pretty limited resources.
Next, I gave them a mission. After rooting around in my bag for slip of paper, I wrote down a secret message*, folded it up and told them I was going to make a dead drop. They had to find where I hid it using surveillance techniques. They could hide behind racks, but it would be far too suspicious if they hid inbetween racks. Frankly, I just wanted to keep them out of the racks altogether. I didn’t need the squirrely eye from staff.
Then I handed everything over to the kids so I could deliver my critique of suit choices. They took turns hiding the note and searching for it. I reminded them that good spies were quiet and went largely undetected.
And I have to say, it worked for a good 15-20 minutes. It was bliss. We walked away without a suit, but my sanity preserved. I’d say it was a win-win for everyone.
*You want to know what I wrote? SECRET. That’s it. At that point, I was far too exhausted to put further effort into it.
Looking for more spy games? Check out these posts:
Posted in Games & Creative Play, Parenting | 2 Comments »
Rock Paper Scissors
Thursday, September 15th, 2011
Is there a childhood game more classic than Rock, Paper, Scissors? All you need is your fist, a cunning wit and a formidable opponent. I find it’s the perfect game for settling arguments, waiting in line, and when there’s a ban on game systems because of some transgression. It’s also just fun to do every once in a while for no reason at all. (more…)
Posted in Games & Creative Play, Technology | 2 Comments »
Walkie Talkie Dictionary
Monday, August 1st, 2011
Oh, the joys of walkie talkies. They’re an essential toy of childhood. Part of the fun, aside from planning clandestine operations—like deciding the next play date location to asking what snacks to bring to the clubhouse—is using the proper lingo. So we did a little research and compiled a list of useful walkie talkie slang.
Presenting the Classic Play! Walkie Talkie Dictionary. (more…)
Posted in Games & Creative Play | 3 Comments »
