Family Game Night

Early in the new year, Jason and I established a new tradition for our little family-- Family Game Nights! We've always been huge game-lovers, and being a part of the Schleicher/Walquist clans, we're sure that Jaden and Cody will grow to love games as well.

Each Sunday evening just before bedtime, we play a couple of games together. Of course, considering that our boys are not even 2 yet, the games thus far have been quite simple. Here is Ring Around the Rosie.

During our January fitness class at the Y, we learned a "middle verse" for the popular rhyme: "The cows are in the meadow, eating buttercups. Ashes, ashes, we all stand UP!" While singing this tune, we hit our heels against the ground. Cody and Jaden LOVE this portion of the game!

It's a smooth transition back up for another go-round. :)

The boys' all-time favorite game (one that we have to repeat nearly every week) is "Hide the Reindeer (or frog or lion or whatever the chosen stuffed animal of the night is)." The rules are fairly basic -- one parent and one boy will hide the stuffed animal somewhere in the house. Then, the other parent and child will search for the hidden animal.

The biggest challenge is always holding back the first twin (the one who helped to hide the animal) from finding the animal for his brother!

 Jaden & Cody get SO excited to run out and look for the stuffed animal. Often, the first twin is clapping or giggling, too, as he watches his brother search.

Both boys are getting quite good at finding the animal, even in the trickiest of hiding spots.

Most recently, one of our games included the boys' popular animal sound game (a wonderful Christmas gift from the McCoy family). The game names an animal or makes the sound of an animal for players to identify on a corresponding card. (Funny side note: You can tell this picture was taken AFTER the boys' bathtime, as Mommy's sweatshirt is covered in wet spots. Gotta love our love-to-splash little fellas! Bathtime with twin toddlers is always an adventure!)

We play this game often during the daytime, too, and despite what this picture shows, the boys are actually quite good at identifying the correct animal. This particular animal must've been a ribbiting, barking dog-frog. :)

Finally, in honor of the NCAA basketball tournament, Daddy designed a shooting challenge for his budding young athletes. The object was to shoot the ball onto the couch in such a way that the ball remains on the couch.

Neither boy was all that successful with the challenge, but they seemed to enjoy tossing the ball and demonstrated some fairly decent form, too. :)

Our games are sure to advance in difficulty level as the months and years pass, but most of all, we just love the excuse to spend time together as a family on these Sunday nights.