We’re going to be staying at someone else’s house for a couple of days. All of us. I’m looking for some activities to keep children Busy and Good. Last year, this was a huge hit for Elizabeth and her girl-cousin:
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Melissa and Doug Jewelry and Nails Sticker Pack. I think I am just going to go ahead and bring that same thing again, along with the Sweets and Treats pad that was so successful on another trip:
(image from Amazon.com)
I wanted to decorate cookies and cupcakes MYSELF. And fine, I’ll get this faces one, too, even though I personally dislike this kind of thing (I don’t know how to put a finger on what “this kind of thing” is—maybe “making things ugly on purpose, in a giddy way”?):
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Some of the children LOVE this kind of thing.
I’m also buying another Garfield book:
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All three younger children will read it at least one time each on the trip alone, and then many more times over the following years—if previous purchases are any indication.
And the next book in each of the two self-published Minecraft series the kids like:
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Diary of a Minecraft Zombie, Book 4. Have low expectations, is my suggestion if you buy any of this series. Though it will look GREAT if you’re accidentally fooled into buying the look-alike series by Alex Brian: it’s astonishingly bad, like a third grader wrote it on the computer at home and printed it out, and a proud but dim parent failed to figure out the self-publishing options that would make it look like a book (page numbers, cover art that isn’t surrounded by extra-book-cover margins, normal font size, etc.). The Herobrine Books ones should be more like $2.99-3.99 instead of $6.99, but at least they look like real books.
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Confronting the Dragon: Book 3 in the Gameknight 999 Series. Again, I suggest low expectations. And I wouldn’t buy it if you’ll have to read it aloud. And this should be $5.99-6.99 instead of $9.25.
I realize I’m not exactly SELLING these. And yet, notice how many of these I have bought already, despite disliking them. This says SOMETHING.
Target has in the Dollar Section (but for $3) some 8-packs of 8×8-inch blank paperback books (all those eights are pretty satisfying, and then each book has 8 sheets of paper in it). These are not the same thing, and much more expensive, but similar enough if you can’t picture what I’m talking about:
(image from Amazon.com)
I bought a pack, and a new box of 64 crayons on sale at Target for $2. If I go back to Target and they still have the blank books, I’m going to buy a second pack of them; I was a little uncertain when I bought them, but then Paul reacted VERY FAVORABLY to the purchase and it made me sorry I hadn’t bought more! Also I want to buy some colored pencils.
We’re bringing a couple of games with us:
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Whoonu, which I see I bought in 2007, for $4.50, on some sort of Christmas special. Do not pay $76, as it is now ludicrously listed for. See if Goodwill has it for 99 cents. Or you might find it at a yard sale. It’s a super-simple game, but I find it really fun. The gist is that each person (except the person who is “It”) has, say, four cards, and they say things such as “t-shirts,” “popcorn,” “detective movies,” and “balloons” (or “sky-diving,” “crafts,” “root beer,” and “restaurants”). You have to guess which of those four things the person who is “It” would like best—even if as far as you know, that person has never tried some of those things, or even if the person dislikes ALL FOUR things. Everyone else is doing the same with their cards. Then the person who is “It” has to put everyone’s guesses in order, and you get points based on how high your choice was ranked. It’s quite fun, I think, and it goes quickly, and it’s a good one for kids and adults to play together.
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Munchkin. This game appeals to me ZERO, and also it takes a couple of hours to play. PASS. But Paul and the kids love it. Paul says it’s like a silly version of Dungeons & Dragons, for children. I find SOME of the game terms A Little Inappropriate, but most of them seem to go right over the younger kids’ heads (and the older kids LOVE it, and feel super sophisticated).
The Melissa and Doug faces things were a big hit on our last trip. We went with the gendered options, slight squeamishness with that ignored (pretty ladies with jewelry, makeup, etc for my girl, the superhero/ugly monster one for my boy).
Also my kids love sticker puzzles: http://www.amazon.com/Frozen-Stick-Sticker-Puzzles-Crafts/dp/B00L5MDUJA/ and Usborne activity books (we bought that travel one and a couple others): http://www.amazon.com/dp/079453287X/.
My girls used to love Shrinkles, though obviously they involve (brief) use of an oven… Can’t link to things from this device, but there are loads of “themed packs” or, for more imaginative or older kids, packs of plain sheets (in different colours) and doodads for making keychains, magnets or whatever. Must admit I’m a big fan myself… I love watching them shrink in the oven!
There are more of those sticker faces books that feature monsters and dinosaurs that I’ve gotten at Target. I don’t think they’re Melissa and Doug, though, but are in the same section. Just in case the actual human faces one really bothers you. :)
My kids are younger than yours, but I bring a complex building toy they haven’t used before: Lincoln logs, new Legos, a marbłe race track.
Not sure what would work with your age range, but there is always a large bag of mini marshmallows and a box of toothpicks!
I love Munchkin! I guess I’m just geeky that way. But I do remove certain cards, especially if playing with family. There are a ton of different Munchkin versions, too, besides the basic fantasy version. Munchkin Fu, munchkin impossible, star munchkin….
With 4 players we play in just 45 min, but that’s without young kids.
Scattergories was always popular with my cousins and I. Depending on the ages of the players, we just added more time to the timer as needed We are also big Clue players at my house.
If you guys enjoy cards, I’m also recommending “spoons”. Here are the rules:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoons
My cousins and I had so much fun with this one that we still talk about it as young adults. Best part is you just need some spoons and a deck of cards.
Hi Swistle! I don’t know if you know loom bands at all but my 10 y.o. daughter has been very into them for over a year, so they’ve been a successful thing for her.
I found them at Wal-Mart here: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Wonder-Loom-Rubber-Band-Bracelet-Kit/30652494
but in Australia at least, you can buy all different brands of it, and you can get really cheap little refill packs, you don’t have to buy the name brand refills.
She watches YouTube tutorials and reads the manuals and can make all sorts of things with them. It seems to be mostly a Girl Toy but she has a couple friends who are boys who she’s bossed into doing it with her at school, and also I know a couple other boys who like them.
She’s old enough that she doesn’t spray the bands around the room, and also they’re little rubber bands, they’re not things that drop off the table and roll away, also also it’s not like a Lego set where it’s easy for my kids at least to lose that one ESSENTIAL piece. If you lose a loom band you just grab another. So it’s good for us in terms of being a reasonably neat and quiet activity.
Good luck!
If your husband and kids like Munchkin, then they might like Smash Up which is an awesome game my husband and I love. The older kids might also enjoy Pandemic where you’re the CDC trying to stave off the end of humanity by finding the cure to 4 different diseases and ending their outbreaks. It’s a cooperative game where everyone has distinct roles that jive off each other in different and interesting ways. My husband popped up to suggest Carcassonne which is a good family game that is fairly easy to explain. I have always enjoyed Fluxx which now comes in flavors, and goes as quickly as people want it to.
Watercolors and a few extra brushes. Cheap, portable, quick to set up, not messy like other paints. I have found that even non-artistic adults who aren’t usually drawn to kids can be encouraged to sit down and take a turn. Probably my favorite kid activity to bring to someone else’s house. I usually bring a pad of watercolor paper, but there’s always printer paper if we run out.
I find that whatever I figure my kids will LOVE to do, they will feel the opposite way and so my go to lazy parenting just make them be quiet and behave at someone else’s house choice is iTunes gc that they can use to purchase whatever new game they want and a set of head phones. YMMV