Guessing games excite kids with their endless possibilities. Entice your kids and their friends with a guessing game. Ask them to name that song, that food, that animal, that location or just about anything else. You can review concepts learned at school or just entertain a crowd with a guessing game.
Mobile
Guessing games require little equipment, if any at all. They can be played anywhere at anytime. If you are on the road, sitting in a restaurant, waiting for the school bus or walking through the store, you can play a guessing game. Because there are such loose rules, kids can also design their own guessing games for everyone to play.
All the Senses
Guessing games can harness any or all of your five senses. In the kitchen, you can fill plastic or ceramic dishes with spices of your choice. Have your kids smell each and guess what’s inside. They can get really creative and talk about what the smells remind them of. Have kids taste different foods while blindfolded and guess which is which. Kids can use their sense of sight to guess how many beans are in a jar or how much a melon weighs. Play a CD and have kids guess the names of songs. Place toys in paper bags, have kids feel them without looking, and guess what they are.
Abstract
Older kids have an easier time guessing abstract items. For instance, you may discuss careers. Kids can take turns describing careers and guessing the careers given. Instead of just using verbal cues, have kids act out certain items, such as animals. With large pad of paper, have kids take turns drawing items for kids to guess.
Specifics
Younger kids sometimes need to see, or feel, tangibly the items they are expected to guess. You can set out a series of vegetables or fruits. Have them guess their names. Then, have the kids guess how much each weighs or how long each one is. If kids are just starting to learn about size and weight, you might get some wild answers, but it will be a good way to introduce and reinforce these concepts. Make sure to tell them the answers.
Prizes
If your kids are guessing how many jellybeans are in a bowl or how many candies are in a jar, you can give them the contents as a prize. For a casual guessing game at home, let the winner of each game be the one who gets to come up with the next item to be guessed.
Photo Credit
- question box image by Pete Linforth from Fotolia.com
