How to Play I Looked in My Grandmother’s Chest

Rainy days. Car trips. Indoor birthday party. There are times when you have to find something to entertain children that doesn’t require movement. Introduce them to “I Looked in My Grandmother’s Chest.” This memory game requires only that the participants are old enough to know the alphabet and are able to remember a list of items.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Decide who is going to go first, second, third and so on in the game. There is no advantage to being first or disadvantage to being last; unless you have a large number of participants. Eventually everyone has to remember a lot of things.
2. Explain that this is an alphabet memory game. No writing is allowed. The first person thinks of something that begins with an "a"--for example, an apple---and says, “I looked in my grandmother’s chest and I saw an apple.”
3. Know that the next person thinks of something that begins with a "b" and says, “I looked in my grandmother’s chest and I saw an apple and a banana.” The play continues with the next person thinking of something that begins with a "c" and says, “I looked in my grandmother’s chest and I saw an apple, a banana and a cow.”
4. Be aware that each person has to remember all the previous items mentioned while adding a new item. Players may be tempted to come up with crazy items, but they should remember that they have to remember them as well when the play comes back to them.
5. Consider that if the participants are older, the difficulty of the game can be increased by adding adjectives to the items. However, the adjective must also begin with the same letter as the item; for instance, "beautiful banana" or "creamy cow." If this level of play is chosen, the players must also remember the adjectives when reciting the list of items.
6. Know that if a player forgets an item, they are out of the game, and play resumes with the next player. The last player left is the winner.