*Our very own 11-year old yogi-author, Kaden, is back with games for the family*

Well, the school year is over and summer has begun! But what if your child decides he doesn’t want to play outside, spend his time riding his bike, taking a swim in the pool and just being a kid? (I always enjoy when I can just run outside and play with my little brother! Ah, summer!) What if they want to stay inside and play… dun….dun……dunnnn!…video games? Well don’t worry because today I’ll be telling you some fun activities and games to play with your children.

This first activity is an activity that requires a bright and sunny day with clouds in the sky. Lie in the grass with your children and look at the clouds imagining what shapes they make. Does it make a plane? A unicorn? A slice of pie? (Or maybe I’m just hungry.)

The next activity is probably one of the simplest games ever known and I have had so much fun playing it. It started when I was in elementary school and we were stuck inside on a rainy day. We didn’t know what to play so our teacher got a beanbag and told us the rules of the game Hot Potato. (French fries would be nice right about now. Maybe I AM hungry?) You play the game by finding a beanbag and telling whoever’s playing to get into a nice big circle. Then have a radio or cell phone and turn the music on. The people playing the game pass the “Potato” around as fast as they can. When the music stops whoever is left with the potato is ELIMINATED!!! I had and still do have lots of fun with this game.

The next game is a game called “What’s Missing?” To play this game, find some tiny toys to fit on a plate. Once you have found those toys then pick one person to be the presenter. Once you have chosen who will be the presenter, have the presenter show everybody else what is on the plate. Take a close look at all of the objects on the plate. Then the presenter goes into another room and switches something up on the plate. (I wonder if one of the objects could be cheese danish.) Once the presenter is finished, have them come back and show the others the plate. It’s up to them to find out what’s different. I first came upon this game when I wanted to watch TV but my mother and father told me no. I found a box of cards that had 60 alternatives to watching TV. So I went back to my parents and suggested we play this game and they agreed. We all had very much fun with it.

This last game that I want to share with you is a game called “Mother May I“. Most of you have probably heard of this game or have played it. Find a nice open spot and someone is picked to be Mother or Father. One at a time, the other people ask “Mother may I…” For example, “Mother may I, Take 1 big step.” The Mother or Father responds by saying either yes or no. However, if Mother says no, then Mother must come up with some other step they must take. It’s up to the players to think of what kind of steps they can create, such as Mad Scientist step, Kitty Cat step, or even Cheeseburger step. (I think I should go grab a sandwich.)

I hope you all enjoy this list of games for summer fun. You have my eleven year-old oath of honor that at least one of these games on this list will work. And while you’re reading this blog, see if you can find out the secret messages I put in here to give a hint to my next blog. Thank you for reading and from here on out Namaste. .