We are just returning from our vacation at Disney World and there are so many thoughts running through my mind. We had a blast! After all the magic, you leave with so many happy memories!
Eric and I met our 30-year-old son Ian and his wife at Disney. They left after a few days and Eric and I finished off the week alone. Two adults running wild amongst all the pixie dust. As you can imagine, Disney was full of families with kids. The lines were long and it amazed me when I glanced around how few parents were actually interacting with their kids.
Flashbacks of when Ian was little came rushing back and so did the memories of us playing all kinds of games while we waited in the line. Some lines can be over an hour wait and that's prime bonding time with your little ones. Need to put some tools in your arsenal? Here are a few fun go tos ~
Paper, Scissors, Rock
You know this classic - paper covers rock, rock crushes scissors, scissors cut paper. Ian and I spent hours playing this one in line. We would see who got the best out of 10, then start all over. Hours of fun!
Alphabet Game
Pick a topic, like animals. Each person names an animal that starts with the next letter of the alphabet also naming all the ones named before it. For example - I say Antelope. Then the next person says Antelope and Beaver. See if you can make it through all 26 letters of the alphabet. This one can be played with as many people as you have in your group.
Buzz
This one is great for the little bit older kiddos. Pick a number. Then each person takes a turn counting. The trick is to replace the multiple of the number you picked with the word buzz. For example - the number picked is 5. So every multiple of 5, replace with the word buzz. I say 1, next person says 2, next person says 3, next one says 4 and then the next person says BUZZ. You say BUZZ at 10, 15, 20, etc. The game starts over when someone forgets to say BUZZ at the right time.
Mirror, mirror
One person makes a face and everyone else has to mimic that face. Try to play this and not laugh!
Hope these ideas help you not only connect with your family but also help that time standing in line tick away like the speed of sound.
We often played the alphabet game when my kids were little. We always visited Disney in the off season so our wait times were generally less than 15 minutes but we used that time in line to plan what we wanted to do next, what our favorite thing we did so far was, etc. The only exception was my middle son who disliked most rides-- we let him bring his handheld video games and he got to play whenever he sat out a ride with my mother in law (or one time in the very back seat of Pirates of the Caribbean-- he was so scared to ride it with us but my mother in law really liked that one ride so we asked the guy loading us up on the ride if he sat in the back seat would it be OK for him to have his game on and just play; it worked out great... and I think he ended up looking up a time or two and realized it wasn't that scary).
ReplyDeleteSo glad you guys had a good trip. Hope you brought a little of that pixie dust and magic home with you.
ReplyDeleteThese are great ideas to kill time when standing in line. I remember the days of standing in line at the bank. Shoot me!! And when I had 2 younguns in tow, it was even worse. As a little girl, I never played rock, paper, scissors so I don't really get it. I know...it is easy but it doesn't make sense to me!! I could play the alphabet game, though, happily!!