The Games Mommys Play

I am a mom of two boys. Little boys are like monkeys on speed. I love my boys and they are good boys but sitting still is not one of their many talents. So I devised several games that I could play with them to keep them from making me crazy at the grocery store, the doctor, dentist, and on road trips.

These are some of those games:

THE COUPON GAME


Like many of you I use coupons to make my dollar stretch as far as possible. When the boys are with me I hand them each a coupon for something on the isle I am on, their job is to find the item and bring it back before their brother. The winner gets a mom coin. More about mom coins later. This game keeps them moving in a productive manner and keeps me from becoming a crazed woman yelling at them to stop what ever mischief they have gotten into because they were bored. Boys can't be allowed to get bored it is too DANGEROUS. Bored boys climb shelves in grocery stores, play catch with grapefruit and see who can hide the longest from mom.

FARMER BROWN


Farmer Brown is a game I designed to help my boys figure out what they needed for a task. Again also designed to keep them from getting bored in Doctors and Dentists rooms where punching and crying can occur without provocation. Farmer Brown is going on a trip or going to build something. The kids take turns telling you something that Farmer Brown needs in order to "go camping" or "build a swimming pool". Each child must come  up with an item that no one else has used already in the game. This game can go on for hours but I warn you sometimes if you play too long the answers get really silly.

THE LICENSE PLATE GAME



I am sure you are familiar with the license plate game. Each child looks out a different window in the car and calls out the name of the state he or she sees on a car. It must be a license plate from a state other than the one you are driving in. There is a twist on this game that you can play with older children. The twist is that they must name the state AND the capital of that state. Fifth graders in California are required to learn all the states and their capitals so it can be a great head start for your kids.

MOM COINS

I was on a road trip with my boys on summer and they had been particularly active. So I devised a system where they would be instantly rewarded for "good" behavior, and I could punish them for "bad" behavior with out resorting to trying to hit them while I drove or threatening to "pull over".

That system is mom coins. I bought some poker chips and when ever the boys said please or thank you they got a coin. If they were punching each other or yelling or not doing as I asked they gave a coin to me. When we would stop for gas they could use their coins to get something, a piece of candy etc. This worked so well we kept it up even at home and now have have REALLY polite young men.

If you have some games that are fun that you would like to share please do so.

Remember together we are the REAL ARMY OF MOMS
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