… for the very young, later evolved into The Copy Game (see below)

Why:

Designed to help build focus, autonomy and self-control.
A game of art, architecture, concentration, empowerment, and fun.

Guidelines:

Even when your child is very young, the beauty of this game is it allows caregiver and child to play on an equal plane. No pre-conceived skill required.

How to:

Can be played with anything: cups of varying sizes, building blocks, dominoes, or things that stack. (Most of the time, we used stacking cups and our giant basket of building blocks which became the home for blocks and wood pieces of all sizes.)

First person gets several moves to start construction, stacking, parallel lines, or cantilevered.

The next person gets the same number of moves to add to it.

Observe your child’s choices.

Engage in your own thinking.

What to play next?

 

*Phase 2, THE COPY GAME

A super fun, low-tech game of creativity in which one person has an idea and the other copies, then switch! The next person leads. A quiet way to ground the spirit and connect with a child.

Ingredients:

Large pieces of white paper
Assortment of pens, crayons, paints or pastels (or all of the above)
Optional: a minute timer

Sources: craft or art supply store

How to:

Pick a player to go first or roll the dice. Turn over the minute timer, if you choose.

First player does a simple design. Other(s) follow.

Then switch leading the design: player two adds a design to the first one and others copy.

At random or guided by timer, switch papers and continue working off of new sheet.

In the end, no one “owns” a final product; everything is co-created.