Jan from RevGals writes:
In less than three weeks, my family, including children and their partners, will be gathering in Seattle, WA for 12 days. After various days in Seattle sightseeing and in Bellingham seeing family, we will travel to the coast of Washington State to spend three nights in a large rented house. With nine adults (from almost 20 years old and up), I am thinking that we need to have some activities pre-planned--like GAMES! (Any ideas will be appreciated.)
So this Friday Five is about games, so play on ahead. . . .
1. Childhood games?Cardgames: WAR, Go Fish, Crazy Eights and Old Maid
Boardgames: Go to the Head of the Class, Parcheesi, Chinese Checkers
Outdoor games: Kick the Can, Capture the Flag, Horse Doctor, Freeze Tag,
Other stuff: jigsaw puzzles, the Labyrinth, Pick-up Sticks
2. Favorite and/or most hated board games?
Not big on board games, period.
Find another person for: Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, Clue, and the Barbie (tm) Shopping Game
3. Card games?
My family plays Four-Handed Solitaire on steroids! (It is like regular Klondike solitaire, but with all Aces to the middle for anyone to play on.) A few years ago, the Harpist brought home from camp the game Dutch Blitz which is hard to find but you can buy it on-line here.
4. Travel/car games?
Counting cows: You count animals out your side of the car. Every time you come to a cemetery, all of your "cows die" and you have to start over.
License plate game: I just heard there are fancy pre-printed pages for this now. We just used a spiral notebook!
Ghost: Spell words, one letter at a time going around the circle. Word have to be above 3 letters. If you end a word, you are 1/3 of a ghost. After you collect 3 losses, you "are" a ghost and the other players can't talk to you or they are "ghosts" too.
Croc count: (or if necessary "socks with sandals" count): Keep track of the number of ugly footwear combinations you see. Bonus if you find an employee of a company wearing them.
5. Adult pastimes that are not video games?
We actually enjoy the above-mentioned card games. Also Apples-to-Apples, Spoons, Taboo, Dictionary and Pictionary.
Bonus: Any ideas for family vacations or gatherings?
We have fun together. Menus get pulled together by the crew, and everyone has a turn helping. (In Girl Scouts we called it a "Kaper Chart" but it gives everyone a chance to be a part of the work. And the fun.) We also have an "Everyone's Birthday Party" including confetti "poppers," cake, etc.
Bring-alongs which help with kids are sidewalk chalk, bubble solution and wands, water balloons, water pistols, and the fixings for s'mores!PARTY ON!
Posts
7 comments:
I'd like to know more about the Kapers Chart. Seems like the same folks do cleaning or are more comfortable in the kitchen (women take over...). Good play.
basically a kaper chart is a job chart. You make a list of all of the chores (fix a meal, clean up a meal, fill dishwasher, empty dishwasher, pull trash, set table, clear table, wash and fold towels, etc) You divide up each day you are together with a chart of these tasks. We usually paired a younger child with a teen or adult. Everyone helped. Everyone had to do dishes. etc
We did this in Girl Scouts all the time. Some classrooms have them as job charts.
See:
http://www.fairbanksgirlscouts.org/volunteer/2008_forms/resources/kaper_chart.pdf
hope that helps.
Oh - you can also make the same people who FIX dinner be the ones who clean it up. So the messies clean up their own mess...
A long weekend (4 days, 3 nights) means 11 or so meals. Some meals are "come when you want" (like breakfast) and others are at a set time.
You remembered some games I'd forgotten, and also reminded me of one of my worst game-playing experiences: I was 22, baby-sitting a brother and sister who were, I think, 5 and 6. They insisted on playing the "Barbie's Prom Date" game (or whatever it's called) and beat the heck out of me. No Barbie games, please!
Horse doctor?
Oh... Horse Doctor? I have no clue how it got that name. It's another Girl Scouts game...
You stand in a circle and hold hands. The person who's "it" turns around and hides her/his eyes. The people in the circle (still holding hands) make themselves into a knot. They can step over hands, go under hands, etc until everyone is tangled. Then they yell "HORSE DOCTOR" and the person who is "it" comes and untangles them. It's silly. Kids love it.
I remember playing that Horse Doctor game, but I don't think we used that name!
PS Deb, we spent the night in Columbus last month. Even with an Ann Arbor Skate Park bumper sticker, we didn't get run out of town on a rail - maybe because we never got too close to OSU...
Post a Comment