Go Fish, Bingo, Man Caves, and Minimalism

One of our best "problem solving techniques" is using name sticks. In a cup/jar/pencil holder, I keep wooden craft (popsicle) sticks with each child's name written on one. Anytime there's a dispute over who gets the pink cup, who gets to play with a toy first, or if we need to choose a child to do a fun job - we draw a name stick. It's a simple solve.

Each morning at day care one of the kids (whose name stick was drawn) draws a slip of paper from the "treasure box". Then we do the activity listed on it. Today, Aidan drew a slip of paper that read Play Go Fish. We tried really, really hard to play..... It was just so confusing! As soon as a child's turn was over, he/she lost interest in the game. Then when I told them it was their turn again, they hadn't been paying attention so had no idea what to do. And by that time, they'd picked up their matched pairs and mixed them up with the cards in their hands, and/or given some of the matches away to whoever asked. Then the "asking" person would tell the "asked" person to Go Fish, instead of the other way around. So I would have to explain, amid mildly upset children, that they couldn't fish from the "pond", and that they had to tell they other person to Go Fish. Confusing, huh?

I'm almost scared of what the other slips of paper in the box have written on them! Might have to make one reading "Take morning naps", but I'm afraid that won't go over well.

We've been busy playing Electronic Talking Dora Bingo - This works much better than, say Go Fish. It teaches animals and colors, and requires only very short attention spans! We've also played some Christmas Bingo - A bit more complicated, but still fun - and there's candy involved in that!

Singing and dancing to kids songs and Christmas songs is always fun, and great exercise when we're stuck indoors during cold winter weather. This week the kids played with lots of different toys, read and listened to lots of books, and colored lots of pictures (so many, in fact, that the blame for the deforestation of the Pacific Northwest is beginning to swing our way!). They had a large cardboard box to play with this week. The boys, especially, love hiding in these boxes. Ahh... Their first "man cave".
The girls, however, (in an extreme version of housecleaning) love stuffing every item from the play room that's not nailed down into the boxes - which leaves a nice, clean, minimalist look to the playroom. Unfortunately, there's nothing left to play with in the playroom.

We saw snow this week! They couldn't wait to get out in it. That lasted about 8 seconds. It was just too bitterly cold.

We've also been busy making a small gift for parents. Next week, parents will understand all the marker stains on their child's hands, arms, .... faces.

My husband watched the kids one morning while I went to the doctor. He was impressed with some of their wild dance moves! They read books, played, and even got to break a few rules!