Who doesn’t remember “The Brady Bunch” episode when Greg’s wayward basketball bounced off the top stair, sailed through the railing, landed on the credenza and broke a vase?
“Mom always said, ‘Don’t play ball in the house.’ ”
But what are kids to do when the weather turns chilly? Thankfully, there are better ways to keep them active indoors (TV and dining-room dodgeball not included).
Hallway Bowling: At one end of a hall, arrange 10 “pins” (hand lotion, shower gel, shampoo, empty two-liter soda bottles) in a triangle. Prop a pillow or two behind the pins to protect the wall or door. Have the young bowlers take several steps back, give them a beach ball and let them strike! [Note: This isn’t very easy.]
Three-Minute Triathlon: Set a kitchen timer or grab a wristwatch and tell your athletes to jog in place for one minute. Next, have them drop to the floor and do abdominal crunches for another 60 seconds. For the third minute, get them back on their feet for jumping jacks. Let them rest, then time them to see how many crunches — or jumping jacks — they can do in a minute.
Modified “Deck” Pushups: Sort through a deck of cards to find all the aces, 2’s, 3’s and 4’s. Shuffle and set these 16 cards in a stack face down on the floor. Your kids, likewise, should lie face down in “ready” position. Turn over the top card. Then have everyone do as many pushups as indicated. If an ace is turned, then the kids do one pushup; if a 3, then three, and so on. See if they can get through the entire stack.
If all else fails, there’s nothing like a game of Sardines to keep your youngsters smiling. It’s like hide-and-seek with a few exceptions: It’s played in the dark; only one person hides; and when each “seeker” finds the “hider,” he joins that person in the hiding place. (It can get rather tight, hence the name.)
But whatever activity your kids do, play along with them. That’s a sure way to brighten any gray day.
— Tanya Price
