Now there is an added benefit to this game: if your kids are busy blowing ping pong balls around the house all their lung power will be used up on the blowing and there will be none left for things like bickering, whining, crying, complaining of boredom or asking for (in this order) snacks, television or computer games. Not that I have any experience with that. None at all.Anyway, the rules are simple: get a cardboard tube (or even a straw if you want to make things interesting) and a ping pong ball and tape out lines on the carpet or wood floors (carpets will be easier for small children). You can make mazes for them to blow the balls through or make lines that they have to follow, either way works.
Children can race balls with siblings through the tracks or try to out-distance each other by seeing who can suck the ball onto the end of the tube and keep it stuck there the longest (a test of lung power and coordination small children will find funny).And if these ideas don't make you flip try sitting kids down on the floor with a couple of ping pong balls where they can just hit them back and forth to each other. It's easy, low-budget and fun without the trouble of a net and table to mess things up. Who needs fancy stuff like a net or a table? Just a hard surface, a ball and a couple paddles---and these could be improvised with some stiff paper plates or pieces of cardboard in a pinch.
This ought to get you through the day!
Technorati tags: crafts, parenting, children
30 comments:
I love the ping pong game on the wood floor! I enjoy ping pong, but not so much that I want to own a ping pong table. I think my kids will enjoy this game!
And the floor gets dusted as a bonus!
We've done it with cheese-ball type chips and straws on a table. We used a toilet roll tube (too small for a ping pong ball but perhaps a milk carton?) as a tunnel, made speed humps, obstructions in the road etc. Not for small kids but for the big-uns who want more of a challenge
I will have to invest in some ping-pong balls. Emma would have a good time with that!
how fun!! i forgot about this game. in college i spent one thanksgiving with a friend and her family and they just all gathered around the dining room table, adults and kids, and blew as hard as they could to keep the ping pong ball from falling over their side. it was a blast, and i know my kids will too. now just to get ping pong balls. thanks for the pleasant reminder that games and fun can be so simple and satisfying...
I can't believe I never thought of that last idea.
And maybe they won't have enough lung power left for blowing bubbles in their milk, either!
What does it say about me that I thought your title referred to the lottery? (We don't play, but we are surrounded with it here in Kentucky.)
This looks perfect for our unsummery rainy weather. I think I will stop by the thrift store to look for some paddles. I never would have thought of this one on my own.
Are ping pong balls like the widget? They can be used for far more things than one ever imagined. ;)
Great ideas for indoor entertainment though.
Oh good ideas Liz--I love those!
And Janet--you know I'm playin' the numbers on the sly :)
Love this idea!! I notice your daughter has matching socks on today...that fad didn't last long!Ha!Ha!
The simplicity of these games are so appealing! I, too, will have to make a ping-pong ball investment.
My boys will love this! Need to find some tubes, though. ;)
Great ideas! I'm off to add pin pong balls to my shopping list....
These are great ideas! Thanks for sharing!
I had to laugh at the second picture with the ping pong paddles - I have some very similar pictures of my brother and I playing that very game in our basement as kids... :)
Long ago when we had a cat, we bought ping pong balls for him. The greatest fun was to put one in the bathtub. Oh, how evil -- yet how funny.
Ping pong balls are the greatest. They are small and light weight so they do minimal damage when thrown hard. I loved all of these ideas.
I'm saved! This morning I experienced whining,crying,asking for snacks,computer,tv,movies,grandmas house....all before 10 am. So thanks, I will be sure to try this!!
Okay, too fun! My kids would love this.
great idea, my boys will get a kick out of this
That looks like fun. What a great game on a rainy day.
love it! i'm off to buy some pingpong balls!!!!!
I like the ping pong blowing game. I just bought some ping pong balls to put in the toilet to try and change some dodgy aiming! I had to buy a pack of 12 so now I know what to do with the spares.
Looks like fun. Good idea!
This is a great idea. I teach those poor mt kids, who have almost nothing.But the center has cement floors vs their dirt floors. Ping pong games on the floor will be 1. cheap for me to buy 2. easy to carry in luggage 3. beats doing nothing, which is what most of them do after school. Except for soccer, i.e. football which is played 24/7 in the street.
You are a life saver!!! We packed up all the toys and sent them with the movers to ship to Germany about a week ago, Unfortunately school is now out and it will be 2 more weeks before we leave Jakarta, I am running out of things for the boys to do with no toys. I will buy ping pong balls tomorrow!
Super smart idea. Thanks for sharing!
This is fabulous! I'll have the kids do it today--school's out, it is rainy and they are fighting constantly.
That's a very cute idea. I bet it would also work nicely with a balloon for younger kids. Just watch out for swallowing!
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