Games & fun

Yesterday was such an awesome day! It needs to be recorded! My friend's ( Sanjyot) two HSed boys had come over for an entire day play-date. They arrived around mid-day & the kids started off the play-date with their self-chosen quiet activities. Ram picked up a Chota Bheem comic, Chellu & Kabir started playing with playdoh while Kunju chose to watch everyone..it then turned out that kunju joined Ram in reading the book while the other pair then shifted to making origami paper planes. Eventually all the kids ( by this time my niece Dhriti too had joined) ended up making the paper planes..all of this with 0 supervision from me. I was amazed at how co-operative they were with each other, sharing each others' energies with no fights etc..We did lunch & then they played some more with Dhriti & Kabir cycling with Kunju and Chellu & Ram finishing up their paper planes.

And then the real fun started. I had planned some indoor games from a wonderful book called "The Complete Book of Activities , Games, Stories, Props, Recipes & Dances for Young Children". It was such an immediate hit. Games like Back Thing, Back-to back lifts, Bead in a bucket, Cat & Mouse, Hide & Seek , Che Che Koolay, Flying Statues & Gossip..In these back-to back lifts especially generated so much laughter that it was really a gift to be there in that moment with the kids. I've never seen my niece Dhriti laugh the way she did yesterday. It was hilarious..we must have spent @ 2 hours playing the games & no one wanted to stop. Infact when Sanjyot called to pick up the boys they didn't want to go since they were having so much fun !!!

I witnessed so much co-operation & team building during the games that now I feel that this must be a regular part of our HSing routine. While forming pairs the kids were ready to try out each other instead of sticking to one. The whole point was to experience what it takes to do different things with different people. What it takes to try a little more & push yourself beyond the comfort zone. When we started with the Back-to back lifts Ram & Chellu were the first to try it & obviously it was very hard. They had to line up back to back sitting,with their hands intertwined & had to try to get up while pushing each other with their backs. The first pair tried & realized immediately that it's not a " get to the result in an instant" thing. They whined & said its too hard for little kids. But with a little encouragement they tried again...they obviously could'nt get it immediately but watching them trying was so funny that we have laughed like crazy. And then the rest wanted to join in too....The other games were relatively easy but were enjoyed thoroughly...

We rounded up with a short movie and obviously lots of snacks! It was really a blessed day to be with such happy kids who were thoroughly having a blast!