Plays that play it safe

https://baddogneedsrottenhome.com

Options for play should not be limited just because your house does not come with a big yard for kids to run around in.  Neither should kids be limited to video games, the internet or gadgets.

Here are some ideas which are perfect for families who have limited space:

1 Board games.  Switch those tablets off, put away your phones, and play the old school way: bring out those board games. You grew up playing board games, and it’s time to pass on the fun to the kids.

There’s chess, Chinese checkers, Scrabble, Monopoly, Word Factory, Uno or Millionaires Game.  There’s even a Game of Thrones!

While a lot of board games these days can be easily downloaded on tablets, we seriously think it’ll be more fun to play the physical versions.

Getting to throw real dice, holding the game pieces with your hands and moving them around the board in front of you doubles the excitement in playing and makes the competition more amusing.

2 Charades.  Get crazy and funny acting out words, names, movies, just about anything!  Having innate acting skills is an edge when you play this game.  Charades is a guessing game where participants need to act out the word or phrase while others guess what it is.

To make it even more fun:  Come up with categories such as famous people, movie titles, and best-selling books; split into teams; and keep score, where the losing team treats the winners to pizza.

3 Pictionary.  All you need are sheets of paper (manila paper, more preferably), markers, tape, and a wall on which to tape the paper and you’re good to go.  Another form of guessing game, Pictionary, is when you draw the word or phrase which you need your playmates to guess.

While you do not need to be as amazing with paper and pen as Larry Alcala or Fernando Amorsolo, you need to be able to think and draw at lightning speed.  Test how ingenious you are even with lines and squiggles with how quickly you can make your playmates guess the right word.