As a child one of my favourite activities was making up little games with pen and paper; writing lists, colouring, designing and more. It’s really nice to see Mr Z is also able to keep him self occupied for quite a long time with just a pen and paper. Mr T is starting to show more interest in this too.
I love to see the designs they create. Here are a couple of Mr Z’s from this week:
This is his own maze which he has designed, and drawn the routes on to it from start to finish.
Here’s a wordsearch he made, and asked me to complete so that he can give me my score
This one is a little road map from three sheets stuck together.
We also enjoy designing pirate treasure maps on paper, of course with X marks the spot. Mr Z finds it really fun to add in all the extra details.
His favourite thing at the moment is numbers, so he likes to write down scores for imaginary races between different characters and mark who is the winner. He also makes top trumps style score cards for various characters.
We were sent a selection of stationary earlier in the week from Viking Direct and Mr Z was very pleased to see lots of new notebooks for him to fill up!
Here are a few of our favourite games to play with a pen a paper:
- Naughts and crosses
- Hang man
- Design a person – everyone draws a bit and folds a bit
- Writing silly sentences
- Design a treasure map
- Design a road map
- Design a house
- Design a theme park
- Write a list of our favourite people, characters or toys
- Make a wordsearch
- Make a maze
- Make a spot the difference
- Writing sums to make a quiz
- Guessing words with letters missing
- Think of words starting with the same letter
- Make number patterns
- Draw something and guess what it is
As for me and my sister when we were little, one of our main favourites was writing lists of our favourite names and writing the best names for Popples!
(this is a Popple in case anyone has missed out on them during childhood!)
Any fellow Popple lovers here do let me know in the comments 😉 What were your favourite game with a pen and paper and what do you children enjoy now?
Linking up Mr Z’s paper creations with:
my kids love to write me a big fat cheque! lol
ET Speaks From Home recently posted…Orion Early Reader Book Review: The Little Nut Tree
Best paper game – obviously chicken and pop… 😉
I had forgotten about that draw a bit and fold a bit one. Also similar to that was “consequences”. I love stop the bus as well. Or make a magazine, hot smash!
Grace says – what a fab idea. I especially liked the Wordsearch – that looked really fun. Thanks for linking to ‘minicreations
KidGLloves recently posted…kid GL loves? A review of Lucas Frank.
some great ideas, we like to play boxes and will quite often if out for a bit of lunch. all you need is a grid of dots then you take it in turns to draw lines the person with the most boxes wins!
Tina Mansfield recently posted…Baking with One Stop Craft Shop
A fabulous list of ideas. Liska x
Liska recently posted…Calling All Meerkat Lovers
Hangman was always a favourite when we were kids
Mary @over40andamumtoone recently posted…Big Garden Birdwatch is this weekend! #birdwatch
Some really good ideas – “Heads, Bodies and Legs” works well as a maze game 🙂
TwinsplusTwo recently posted…Can your child’s Gaming Habit be a Positive Thing?
I’ve got that Popple! 6yo has it in her room now.
spicers1976 recently posted…Project 365 19-25
Lovely idea. Great for train journeys.
Emily @amummytoo recently posted…Can Vanish GOLD really clear a red wine stain in 30 seconds? (sponsored review)
My 5 year old loves playing noughts and crosses
Ah design a person – I remember that! Oh see I have to do that one this weekend now!
Love All Blogs recently posted…An evening with Taiye Selasi
I used to occupy myself for ages as a child with my pens and notebook. I used to make pretend magazine and those little choice games. I had a Popple , that’s brought back memories!
Sam @happyhomebird recently posted…Winter is starting to drag
woohoo fellow popple owner 😀
I used to love making pretend magazines and newspapers. My eldest used to love drawing when she was little but my youngest avoids writing and drawing at all costs, sadly.
Mums do travel recently posted…A family-friendly hotel in Suffolk
oh me too!! how could I forget making magazines from the list!! so much fun 😀
I think this is a great way to keep kids entertained.We used to play hang man asa well as noughts and crosses.
Nayna Kanabar recently posted…Orange Chocolate Mousse Vegetarian friendly and Shaken Udder Milkshakes giveaway.
love a good game of hangman
kara recently posted…Project 365 – Week 4
Oh gosh! That reminds me of a battle game i used to play when i was little where you rolled the die and made dots forward and then the other person did the same to get to your side but then you could try and block their path by shooting a pen line. Loved that game 🙂
Keri-Anne recently posted…Let’s have an adventure link up II
It is amazing what they can do with the most basic equipment but massive imaginations! Something to learn from our kids, I think.
Vai Chin recently posted…Fruit Salad with Chat Masala
I wanted a popple when I was younger (80’s child lol) – they rocked!
I love the idea of pen and paper games, as it is something you can do wherever you are. Having a decent compendium of games stored up is so great – as it means you don’t end up playing naughts and crosses for 3 hours straight to kill time. Super ideas – thank you 🙂
Vicky recently posted…#silentsunday
Wow! There are lots of great ideas here for rainy afternoons.We like playing consequences and noughts and crosses.
Aly recently posted…Favourite Songs From Films
Kaycee loves her pens and notebooks. She’s always writing and drawing 🙂
Shell Louise recently posted…Photo Challenge – January 25th – A day late!
Emmy is just starting on her writing journey and I dot the letters out for her and she draws over them currently
Emmys Mummy recently posted…Beaded Valentine’s Day card
What fab ideas will sure come in handy .x
Hannah Staveley recently posted…My true life story battling depression
I used to love playing ‘Squares”. It kept me and my sister amused for hours. Thanks so much for sharing with the Pin It Party x
Mum of One recently posted…Monday Parenting Pin It Party #37
love these ideas 🙂
Some great, simple ideas here! #LetKidsBeKids
Sara (@mumturnedmom) recently posted…Bake: carrot bread
Loads of great ideas, I shall have to suggest some to my son, he loves pen and paper.
Thanks for linking #LetKidsBeKids
Karen Bell recently posted…Let kids be kids Linky 28/1/14
Thank you for posting this! When my kids were little, they went everywhere with a spiral notebook and some a pencil case full of things to write and draw with. The days of tic tac toe and squares/dots have given way to Angry Birds and Candy Crush Saga with too many families today.
Bonnie a.k.a. LadyBlogger recently posted…I’m the Featured Blogger at Social Media 2-For-Tuesday!
I still don’t remember Popples, but that is THE cutest photo 😀
Jenny @ The Brick Castle recently posted…Nelsons Rescue Cream And Balm
some great ideas here and so much better than them gaming all the time