Cinderella Days! Word Games And Other Random Fun! 
While shopping for a few snacks to have at my work for those times when it gets too busy to take a lunch break, I found some crackers with letters on them that have helped provide a neat twist to some word games that I’ve had fun playing with my cute granddaughters on our latest “Cinderella Days”!
Most children like the little bite-sized Cheez-it crackers. Since Makena, my oldest granddaughter, start school this fall, she was especially curious when I told her we were going to play a fun game with the crackers, as well as eat them…after all, isn’t that the best part! (Marli, who is almost two, got caught up in the excitement of the games too!) Having organized game time is a great way to interact on a more personal level with our grandchildren!
Makena and Marli arrived at my house dressed alike, “twiners” as Makena described it! Is there anything more sweet than two sisters who are still young enough that they want to dress alike!
I had the girls names spelled out on one of their special plates when they got to my house; they wanted to spell my name too! This set the mood for the game!
Fancy paper and pencils make any game more fun!
For the first game, Makena picked a letter cracker from the box, then she’d think of a word that started with that letter. (She’s been doing workbooks and letters at home for awhile now, so I knew this wasn’t too hard for Makena to play. You can obviously adapt and help as needed.)
Then I’d write the word down and Makena would copy it.
When Makena picked the letter “E”, she quickly replied that elephant started with “E”, but she didn’t want to write that word. I came up with “excited”. She loved that the word had an “X” in it! Sometimes she’d copy over my writing, then she’d write the word herself. She told me her mom had her do that sometimes–what a smart mom she has! Ha!
Marli just hung out and chattered away as we tried to think up words for the letters we picked. Makena and I got a kick out of some of the words Marli made up! Makena got a little exasperated at one point and said to me, “Grandma, Marli just doesn’t know her letters! That’s a big sister for you! Priceless!
Makena immediately said, “B is for ballet!” I was the one to get a big surprise with this letter when Makena ran and put on her ballet costume that was in the bag her mom had brought with them when she dropped the girls off! This led to a spontaneous dance fest in the playroom!
It’s random fun like this that you just want to hold onto forever! (Capturing two very busy girls on camera is not always easy either!)
Another fun word game we played with these crackers was sort of an “I Spy…” variation.
We each took turns picking a cracker out of the box, then tried to find something around the house that started with the letter on the cracker!
“O” for oranges! I helped Marli do this one with me! She was so happy to be a part of the game, and Makena loved how excited she got!
I have to be honest, Makena stumped me on this one. For the life of me I couldn’t find anything that started with “G”!
Finally Makena pointed to the lamp on our sofa table. When I said that’s a lamp, that starts with “L”, she told me, “Grandma, it’s a green lamp, you know, gr, gr for gr-een!” (Imagine her sounding out the letter “G”) Oh, from the mouth of babes!
Another fun letter that Makena picked was the letter “M”!
Of course, right away Makena acknowledged that she could pick anyone of us, since all our names start with “M” –but she was very clever with her choice…
It’s all very silly, but so much fun!
These letters are on a big magnet board in our playroom! I don’t think there is a child alive that doesn’t love to play with magnets, especially when you learn to spell your name with them!
Any fun games you’ve made up your own version of, that your family likes to play?
–Mary
A quick foot note…after I posted this entry, I met up with my daughter, Malia, and my granddaughters to run a few errands. Makena brought some papers with her that she had done with her cousin, Emma, who tends them once in awhile. Makena told me that Emma plays school with her and helps her do these amazing little worksheets. I was so impressed with how well done they were and how Emma had obviously taken a lot of time to work on them with Makena. What a fun idea for any babysitters out there earning extra summer money!
