Summer is still on, but soon, vacations will be drawing to a close. So far, many of us have gone on long holidays, caught up with the latest movies, dabbled in cooking experiments, sat at home and read through every possible story book. Why not take a break and relax at home? While everyone would rush you to go out and play, stay indoors, and try out these fun games.
Picture perfect
Who doesn’t love a game of jigsaw? One of the most loved indoor games, the jigsaw puzzle was invented when a picture painted on cardboard was cut into tiny interlocking pieces. The puzzle gets the name from the jigsaw, which was used to saw through the cardboard. These tiny pieces can vary from 100 to 1000 pieces. Can you guess the largest puzzle ever made? It was 32, 256 pieces! Hours of fun, guaranteed!
Pick your cards right
We wouldn’t recommend that children start playing cards and gamble away their piggy bank, but we have a great alternative – Uno! That’s right. This game has been entertaining families for decades. A deck usually consists of 108 cards, and divided into four sets of colours — red, blue, yellow and green. Seven cards are dealt among the players and the game proceeds with each participant picking a card from the remaining deck. The agenda is to discard your cards as soon as possible. Don’t forget to yell “Uno” before playing your last card.
Build it up
Old games may be forgotten. New games will be invented. But the charm of Lego will never wear off. You might remember Gina Neutron’s question about how Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from Denmark, had come up with these little plastic, interlocking building blocks that have provided countless hours of amusement, and have even inspired some to become architects! Of course, you know that the word Lego means “play well” in Danish. Neutron’s question mentioned that too.
Get on board
When it comes to indoor games, board games would certainly emerge as the clear winner. Can you even imagine the number of board games that exist in the world at this very moment? From the immensely popular ones such as Monopoly, Snakes and Ladders, and Chess to the less heard of such as Slumlord, Tax Cheat and Gajoink! — board games never disappoint.
Peek-a-boo
Who said hide-and-seek is solely an outdoor game? Well, ask your friends to seek you out while you hide under the clothes inside your brother’s messy cupboard, but be sure not to lock yourself in! On a rainy day, the only ones playing hide-and-seek outside are the sun and the sky. There are a number of places you can hide inside the house — from the bathroom and store room and under the bed, to highly tricky places such as the boxes in the loft, and inside a huge carpet that’s rolled up and kept in the corner. Gather your siblings, friends or cousins and make a rainy day memorable.
Be a hunter
No, silly! Not a real animal hunter. Be a part of a scavenger hunt. Prepare a list of things to seek. You can start with simple items such as a blue bottle cap or a red ball point pen. But it will be more fun to add items that are available inside the house, but are still hard to come by — especially when the item is not mentioned by name, but must be sought using only clues. Did you know that the record for the largest scavenger hunt in the world belongs to the annually-held GISHWHES (Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen. That’s right, that’s what it’s called), that included 972 teams with 15 members each? That’s 14, 580 participants!
A different board
Get your wrist movement to be perfect because it’s going to help you net those coins on the carrom board. Good hand-eye coordination is another factor that will help you win. Strike the coins and score. Conquer the queen and be the master of the carrom board!
Pretend Games
These are quite self explanatory — play and pretend to be someone else! While we strongly agree that children should stay true to themselves, we must make exceptions when it comes to these games. There are so many people and things that you could pretend to be... the list is endless! You could be a doctor in the middle of a complicated operation, trying to save a life. You could be a scientist, pressing the knobs and dials on the washing machine (while its power is off, and when your mother is not watching!) and plan a space expedition to Jupiter. Or you could pretend to be Courage the cowardly dog. Use your imagination. Options are aplenty.
Well, what are you waiting for? These games are waiting to be played. Go conquer the world of indoor games.
