Inventing board games

Inspired by an old project on Kidley and Rhyme Time, a board game created by an eight year old girl, my kids like to create their own board games from time to time. Especially on indoor days, when everyone is going a bit battty from too much togetherness.

All I do is break out a large sheet of paper, and the pencil-pot, and they get to work. Of course, they each have very different ideas about what the game should be, what it should look like, what the rules should be, how big the squares should be... you name it. The best solution always ends up being to have them each make their own game.

I'm always so impressed at how much thought and planning go into their games, and how they react when we play and discover problems with the rules. Instead of getting frustrated, they tend to work together (!!!) to come up with corrections, and work-arounds.

Pretty awesome, if you ask me.