Toyuncak Mart Nisan 2017

14
Sektör
Fun games to play with
your children in waiting rooms
“Waiting room”…..how appropriately named!
We wait with our children in hockey
arenas, dance studios, dentists’ offices,
in traffic and in grocery store check-outs.
Keeping our kids engaged in a fun activity
usually makes the waiting time much better.
Having activities to do that don’t require
any props are the key to “happy waiting”.
My kids would ask for fun games to play
that were “inside my head”. Here are a few
of the games from inside my head…
Higgy piggy
To play Higgy Piggy, you create a riddle
and the answer is two rhyming words. This
is best played with kids who understand the
concepts. It targets synonyms and rhyming.
One person comes up with the question and
the rest, guess. For example: Q: What is a
favourite bug? A: Best pest Q: What does a
cold ship wear? A: A boat coat.
I spy
Waiting rooms are often limited in colour,
but to target adjectives, you can also pick
an item by its shape, size, texture, etc. “I
Spy with my little eye something that is
yellow or round or a parallelogram or tiny
or bumpy”. Everyone takes turns guessing
what is spied. The winner of the round
chooses the next object.
20 questions
This is also a fun game for kids of all ages
that targets question generation and convergent
thinking skills (i.e. putting all the
clues together to reach a correct conclusion).
Everyone agrees on the category or
group they will all pick from (for example
animals, food, sports). When it’s your turn,
choose an item from this category. Then,
everyone asks yes or no questions about
your item and tries to guess what it is. For
example: It’s an animal. Is it a pet? No. Is it
a farm animal? Yes. Does it lay eggs? No.
Does it moo? No. Is it pink? Yes.
Tell a tale
Someone starts by making up the beginning
of a story, perhaps something dramatic
like “Once upon a time in a creaky old
house….” The next person adds to the
story, “there lived a three-legged orange
monkey”. Each person takes their turn connecting
an idea to the story. It encourages
everyone to think creatively!
Cherry and pit
This activity is an excellent conversation
starter and an opportunity to support each
other. When it’s your turn, you tell about
the best part of your day, the “cherry”,
and the worst thing about your day, the
“pit”. Matching your response to the others
cherry or pit with cheers or support is an
excellent social language skill for children
to practice.
I’m going on a picnic
This is an alphabet/memory game. Start the
game by saying, “I’m going on a trip and in
my suitcase I will pack A for alligator shoes”
(or any word that begins with A).The
next person says, “I’m going on a trip and
in my suitcase I will pack A for alligator
shoes and B for a broom” The next person
tries to remember everything the person
before them brought and adds an item with
the next letter of the alphabet. Chances are,
the waiting will be over before you get to Z.
Sandy is a dedicated professional with 30
years experience serving clients with communication
challenges. She specializes in
working with clients who have an acquired
brain injury.
Mart / Nisan 2017