Ping Pong Power Ball

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!

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