I spy with my little eye….
In the modern-day of gadgets, screens and cyberspace it is refreshing to play a few old-fashioned, time-honoured games which involve nothing but a few willing participants. These games are, I often find, best played in moments of extreme boredom and/or desperation. I-Spy is one such past-time. Starting with colours (something that is…red) and, as my children learn to read, moving on to phonics (something that starts with….B). We are wont to play it in doctor’s waiting rooms, Pizza Express and on looong journeys. Having three kids, all of whom seem to have inherited my competitiveness, I have learned through bitter experience to take turns in having a go and not let the guesser get the next turn. Otherwise your eldest child will rule the roost and take great satisfaction in gloating over the weeping younger siblings.
Car games are always the best. Aside from I-Spy we play visual bingo which is who can spot certain, carefully chosen things such as a slippery road sign (my son’s favourite) or a living animal (we get a lot of road kill around here). This is, I unsuccessfully stress to them, not a competition, but a joyous observation game we can do as a team. Yeah, I know…
The favourite game to play in the car is The Lorry Game. This is not great for young children, so my husband and I usually play it when the kids are asleep and all our *ahem* stimulating conversation has ceased. It involves us choosing four lorries (only one supermarket allowed) and getting one point every time you spot one of your lorries and if you get all four, then the game is over. We have been playing this for years and so my four lorries are firmly established. Waitrose (I remain loyal), Norbert Dentressangle (although I can’t pronounce it), Argos (surprisingly frequent) and my pièce de résistance, Royal Mail or Parcelforce (who are diligently delivering parcels all over the UK and boosting my score no end). If you want to play, the lorry has to pass you (either side of the road) and be moving not parked. Try it – honestly the M1 has never been so exciting….
One last game, which is always a goodie, is what we call Amazon Zulu. Basically going through the alphabet in turns and trying to name different categories of things..fruit, breeds of dog, pop groups…that sort of thing. Good one to play with the kids or as a drinking game – such versatility!
Now, if you are sitting there thinking…crikey, the long winter evenings must just fly by in that household….don’t judge me. I don’t get out much. And I do like to win. Yes, even against the kids.
My Mum and Dad have a similar game with the Norbert Dentressangle lorries. They greet them by cheerfully yelling “Nobbbbbbby!” in their general direction. I once played this game in a car with three unwitting colleagues. They gave me strange looks. Weirdos.
I love Norbert!
Two favourites in our house:
1) ‘Spot the advert’ – only works on ITV etc. Basically, as ads come on you have to shout the full brand name of the product being advertised before it is revealed.
2) ‘The Freeview Scroll Game’ – variation on the old book titles game. Go to Freeview guide showing all channels, then scroll through replacing a key word in the title of the listed programme with a different word, i.e. ‘Bogey’ or ‘Fart’ (i.e. ‘The Big Bogey Theory’ or The Great British Fart Off’). It doesn’t sound much, but this has had me, my son and his BFF creased up with laughter on many occasions…
I am SO going to do the freeview game. I love childish rude words! And Great British toilet humour….
The Fart Factor…..
It’s the random documentaries that really get you… i.e. ‘Tonight on BBC4, an Arena special looking at the life of psychiatrist and writer Oliver Sacks: “The man who mistook his wife for a bogey”…’ Or somesuch.
ha ha ha ha …. I’ll bear the lorry game in mind!
It’s a classic!
I spy is always good, and like you, Husband and I are very competitive. I spy with all four of us, usually ends up with Husband and I bouncing answers between us, the kids don’t get a look in!
The other good one is Red Car. You count cars that are driving, in the opposite direction and every time you get a red car you all shout “Red Car” and whoever spots the most wins. I have been known, but don’t tell anyone, to when driving, position the car so that I get a better view than Husband!!!
“Legs” is also fun. You count the number of legs that a pub name has. ie Horse and Cart = 4. Dog and Duck = 6. My only suggestion is that you need to agree who the “Travellers Friend” is. I have claimed it to be a centipede on my go.
Enjoy xx
Yes, we play red car too! Pinched it off of you though! We upped the stakes to yellow car the other day when it took us nearly 2 hours to get through the Dartford Tunnel….