Games to Play With Grandchildren Under Ten
The joy of being a grandparent and spending time with grandchildren is often one of life’s most treasured experiences. Likewise, many children adore spending time with their grandparents, who tend to let the rules slide a little and always seem to come up with fun activities. Grandparents don’t have to be electronic whizzes to entertain their cyber inundated grandchildren. They can play some old-fashioned childhood games with their grandchildren -- games they used to play when they were children.
Other People Are Reading
-
Simon Says
-
Grandma or Grandpa starts out being Simon, the leader. Whatever Simon says, the group must do, as long as the activity is prefaced by the words, “Simon says.” If Simon just commands “do this” and does not say "Simon says," anyone who does the activity is out. It sounds easy, but after listening to five or six quick orders in a row, it is easy to forget that Simon must say, “Simon says,” before you do anything. The last child left taking proper orders from Simon wins the game.
Pin the Tail on the Donkey
-
“Pin the Tail on the Donkey” is often played at children’s birthday parties. However, the game has many variations. For instance, you can draw a clown face on a paper plate without the nose and hang it on the wall. Have the children take turns. Blindfold and spin each child gently around in a circle once before having each try to stick a red pom pom nose with tape on one end on the clown’s face. The child who sticks the pom pom nose closest to the middle of the clown face wins.
-
I Spy
-
“I Spy” can be played indoors or outdoors. Grandma or Grandpa can start the game off by secretly observing a certain object in the area. For example, suppose the object is a Teddy bear. Grandma can say, “I spy with my little eyes something brown.” The children look around and try to guess what Grandma sees. The child who guesses the Teddy bear gets to be the next to give clues starting with the words, I spy.” The game does not really have a winner; it is just an engaging game to keep kids occupied.
Go Fish
-
Each player gets four or five cards from a deck. The rest of the cards are spread in a big pile, face down, on the table. The players take turns asking each other for matching cards. Suppose Grandma has a “two.” She asks her grandchild if he has a “two.” If he does, he must give it to her and she puts the pair down face up in front of her. If he doesn’t, he says, “go fish.” Then, Grandma must take another card from the face down pile. The next player then asks someone for a card. The winner is the person who can complete the most pairs before all the cards are picked up.
-
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images
