We have a lot of games. I like games. Kiddo LOVES games. New Kid wants to do whatever his awesome big brother is doing. It's not so easy to play the same game with your almost 7 year old and your almost 3 year old at the same time.
However, while the older kid is at school I encourage you to bring out those "older kid games" for your little one to play with. You might just be surprised at not only how occupied it keeps him, but how many skills he explores.
Here are a few example from our home:
Skippity: New Kid likes to sort the chips by color, place them on the squares (1 to 1 math skills), and stack them (fine motor).
Scrabble: He sorts them by letter and makes the alphabet (literacy).
Boggle: He loves to shake the box (sensory), place them in the squares (1 to 1, fine motor), and tell me the letters (literacy).
Chinese Checkers: Oh, how much fun it is to put the pegs in the holes! (fine motor)
Rush Hour Jr.: Okay, let's face it: it's all about the cars. (P.S. Looking for a gift for a 4-6 year old kid? I
always recommend this game.)
So put on your toddler glasses and take a look in your games closet. You don't have to follow the instructions in order to play a game. After all, aren't rules meant to be broken?
Great idea! My "new kid" would love this!
ReplyDeleteI forgot all about Rush Hour! Great game! I think my "kiddo" might get it for Christmas.
I remember treating my family's chess pieces like little dolls...
ReplyDeleteBrilliant!! Bookmarking and sharing.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of Rush Hour before... we'll have to try this game.
The almost three year old at our home adores playing with his 6 year old sister's games and has for almost a year now. We let him invent his own ways to play when his sister is at school ( he likes to use his dump truck and steam shovel to scoop up small game pieces as an example), and when she's home we play altogether, and he'll be on a team with one of us. Zingo Bingo,Hungry Hungry Dog, Concentration-(Played With Color Cards), and Balderdash are ones he's been able to join in on since he's been two. Such fun! Thanks for a great post.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a good idea. I wouldn't have thought of letting my younger kids "play" older games. I'll be pinning this one :) Glad to find you on the I can teach my child link up!
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas! My 3 yr old loves to sort the letters in our Scrabble game :)
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