Do you need a new activity to fuse creativity into your days? Try the Bowl Game, where your kids create the rules.
One evening, the kids were bored. I didn’t want to turn on the television, and I wanted them to do something creative.
But it was evening and they were getting tired and none of them could think of anything to do.
So, I asked my oldest to go fetch a large bowl from the kitchen. Then I asked everyone to go find three things to put in the bowl.
The kids all thought we were going to play the Story Bowl. But, I surprised them with a new game after they dumped their items in the bowl.
What The Kids Added to the Bowl
We ended up with an interesting variety. Our first bowl of stuff included:
- A Wii remote
- A pair of scissors
- Owen’s chewy tube
- A pen
- Some Mega Bloks
- An O-Ball toy
- A toy car
- Rubble (from Paw Patrol)
The First Round of Play
Without telling the kids what we were doing, I asked them each to select three things from the bowl.
After they had their items, I gave them their challenge. They needed to create a game using items they had.
I also gave them permission to go grab two extra items from anywhere in the house, as long as they would fit in the bowl.
The kids all got excited as they tried to figure out what their game was going to be. They sneaked off to the other rooms to collect their additional items without giving away what they were after.
Once everyone was back with their two items, I set the timer for five minutes. The kids had that long to create rules to their game and get everything set up.
I also gave them one additional rule:
They had to be able to successfully demonstrate how to play. That way they weren’t creating an impossible game to make their sibs mad…
The Games the Kids Created
From our bowl of items, the kids invented some fun games.
One of them set out four objects on the ground. Then she demonstrated how to play. The fifth object was a little ball. We had to get down on the ground and push the ball with our head. No hands allowed!
But we weren’t just going in a straight line. We had to navigate around the other objects, weaving in and out.
Another kiddo hid five objects around the room and challenged us to go find them. This worked okay for the three from the bowl, but we had no idea what the other two items were! 😀 With some “hot and cold” clues based on how close we were, we eventually found them.
One kid created an interesting game. We had to put the scissors around our big toe, and the O-ball rattle on our other big toe. Then we had to walk while balancing a couple of objects in our hands. If the scissors or rattle fell off our toes we had to start over.
Another child created a game where we had to slide toys across the floor and try to get it to land in the circle of masking tape he’d put in the middle of the room.
There was so much variety!
They Wanted to Play Again!
After everyone tried out each of the games, the kids asked if we could play again.
So we put away this round of supplies and everyone set off to find three new things.
This time they were much more purposeful with what they grabbed. But, I didn’t want everyone to just pick the things they put in the bowl.
So, I decided they had to take turns selecting. We went from youngest to oldest and everyone picked one thing. Then we started from oldest and went to youngest when everyone picked their second item. A final round of selection gave everyone their three objects.
They examined what they had. Some were disappointed because someone else took the thing they wanted. But, they got over it and the kids created new games with what they had, instead of what they wanted.
The Kids Create the Rules = Creative Fun
We had so much fun playing The Bowl Game. It’s definitely something we will be doing again!
Is this a game your kids would enjoy? I’d love to hear what games they create in the comments.
