I learn a lot from watching my children. I learn that you don't need to have toys and video games and books and television to entertain yourself, sometimes you can go right back to the basics.
Hide and Seek.
Today, on this sunny, but cold, November day, hide and seek is the game of choice. And finally the kids are almost all old enough to get the hang of it. But not quite. My six-year old is pretty good at tailoring his game play to suit the sibling that is hiding though, so it works.
For example, when he is seeking the two-year old, his technique is to wander through the house exclaiming loudly, "Are you in here?" before finally looking behind the couch, where he knows she is hiding, because he can hear her giggling and because its the place she's hid the last thirteen turns in a row.
And when he's looking for a three-year old, well, Connor pretty much hides in whatever the last place is that Alex just hid. So Alex either goes straight to him or pretends that he hasn't figured out Connor's pattern too and looks in a couple of other locations first.
Alex is a great seeker! He always wins.
And when Alex hides... well, he hides in some pretty innovative places. Sometimes so well that Connor and Kirstin can't find him. So throws out little clues to help them out.
An example of a good clue:
Alex hollers, "I'm somewhere stinky!" Connor finds him in the laundry hamper.
And example of a clue that maybe needs a little tweaking (but you have to give Connor kudos for trying):
Connor - "I'm somewhere in my bedroom under a blanket!"
The best thing about it is that it's a pretty independent game. Requires little supervision, no supplies and the best part, NO CLEAN-UP! Sometimes I join in, sometimes I don't. Usually my job is to count with the little ones and make sure they don't peek before we yell "Ready or not." However, when Alex tells my three-year old, "Connor, count to eighty thousand!"... well, then I decide it's time to intervene...
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