If you didn't have the foresight of stocking up on board games to provide non-screen entertainment while staying safe at home, fret not. Our experts share games you can make with easily available material
1. Use cards to play memory - Suggested by Juhi Bhayani
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Lay out 20 cards from any pack, face down, and make 'finding a pair' the challenge
Bhayani is the project head at Born Smart, a platform for parents with young kids. She recommends a memory game that’s great for kids and adults alike. All you need is 20 cards—UNO, playing cards, etc. Select cards in pairs and place them randomly and turn them upside down. Now, open two cards and try to find pairs. If you find a pair, you keep them open and earn a point. If not, turn them down and try again till you get all pairs. Take turns. Whoever finds maximum pairs wins.
Juhi Bhayani
2. Play word charades - Suggested by Juhi Bhayani
Bhayani loves these word games where all you need is two sheets of paper and three coloured marker pens, including a black one.
Step 1: Bhayani says, "Divide a page into 25 boxes and write words on it."
Step 2: "On the other sheet, make a similar grid and colour 12 random boxes red, 12 blue and one box black. This sheet is your map. Start the game with the first team selecting a colour—red or blue. Then, one person in the team looks at the map, then at the words in the grid corresponding to the colour. For instance, if they selected red, their words are Olive, Beat, Play, Tea, Doctor, Net, Knife, Bell, Van, Kiwi and Forest," instructs Bhayani.
How the final grid will look
Next, they have to give clues to the opposite team to think of these words (like dumb charades, but here you can talk). The more clues they take, the more points are deducted. And, if the team guesses the word in the black grid (Here it is Degree), they lose automatically.
3. Riddle Me Snakes & Ladders - Suggested by Tanishq Sheikh
Sheikh is the founder and director of Teacher’s Lounge, a training institute for nursery school teachers. She is fond of the game of snakes and ladders. "My daughter is an art student, so she often comes up with a twist to original games. She made a snakes and ladder board with fun instructions and wrote riddles on chits. Use coins, buttons or safety pins for markers and use a virtual dice if you don’t have a real one," says Sheikh. Pre-decide the number of seconds per number on the dice. For e.g. 1=10 seconds, 2=20 secs, etc. First, the player rolls the dice and the number that shows up determines how many seconds a player gets to solve a riddle. So, if it lands on 2, the player picks out a riddle, reads it and tries to answer in 20 seconds. If the answer is correct, he/she gets to move 2 paces. If the answer is incorrect, they stay where they are.
Tanishq Sheikh
4. Treasure Hunt - Suggested by Meghna Chitalia
Chitalia of Party Planet Events does a fun game of treasure hunt with her daughter at home. There are tons of places to hide the clues—bookshelf, under the cupboard, inside the refrigerator. "Kids love treasure hunts. Use your imagination with the clues. We even used the reference of Coronavirus and lockdown in our recent one," says Chitalia.
Meghna Chitalia
5. Take the race ahead
Chitalia and her family have taken the dice game a notch up with a bowl and spoon race on the floor. Mark an area on your floor with chalk or markers. You could use wool or ever tape if you like. Make lines for all players. Now, roll the dice and move the bowl those many steps. The player to reach first wins the race. "Even though this seems simple, since the game is played on the floor, it can accommodate more players; it’s fun to play it with the family," she adds.
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