How to Play the Waiting Game with Kids
Parents want a solution: “How often have you sat too long in a waiting room with bored kids?”
Who knows how often I played the Waiting Game with my children and grandchildren over the decades? Mom, Dad, Grandma, I want to share my solution to a common problem with you in this blog post, so keep reading this updated post. Some of you may remember playing these old games as a child.
A friend of mine was going through some playthings I was offering for sale from my former business when a Light bulb came on.
Malika Bourne used Artistly.com to create this AI-generated image.
“Malika, can you put together a Waiting Room Packet?”
Well, yes, I could. I give some examples that I had at the time I first put together this post.
So this post will share some boredom-buster ideas for your sanity, parents. My little e-commerce shop no longer exists. However, I have a new book coming out in March 2025. This rejuvenated old blog post gives a sneak peek at some games I included and much more of No Non-cents Nanna’s wisdom.
Are you ready?
I Spy With My Little Eye
This waiting game requires no game pieces – only what is in that boring Waiting Room has in it.
You say, “I Spy With my Little Eye…something BLACK.”
How to Play the Waiting Game with Kids
Play I Spy With My Little Eye.
The child guesses what the object is. “I spy the black pants you are wearing!”
It’s fun and easy. But, if you are not familiar with the directions, click HERE for directions from 45+ Fun Indoor Games for All Ages
Simon Says
When your child must sit still and be quiet in a Waiting Room, you may as well try to nail a blob of Jello to a tree.
Growing muscles MUST move. But a Waiting Room is no place to run around and scream. So, we want to tell the kids what exactly they “CAN” do.
Playing a version of Simon Says, combined with the Lamaze exercises you learned, can be a lifesaver. Kids can move muscles calmly while focusing on something besides waiting and waiting.
Example:
Simon says, Flex your arm muscles. (Use ‘biceps’ with older kids after you have played a few times.)
“Simon says, Raise your left knee,” you may raise your knee.
But what if I say, “Raise your right knee”? If you raised your knee…Ha-ha! Simon did not say to do that, and you are out of the game. You are still in the game for those who sat quietly, not moving a muscle.
How to play the waiting game with your kids. Play Simon says….more ideas in the post
Simon says raise your right hand.
If you are not familiar with how to play Simon Says, click HERE for directions from 45+ Fun Indoor Games for All Ages
Animal, Vegetable or Mineral?
OH MY! I can’t tell you how many times this game saved my sisters and my behinds when we Played the Waiting Game…and we did it all too often.
Some preacher’s kids knew the rules for Animals, Vegetables, or Minerals and taught us how to play as we quietly waited for our verbose parents to stop talking and take us home. My sisters and I had a lot in common with those preacher’s kids who were expected to “Be seen and not heard,” rules that had been around since before the 1950s.
The trick is the players will quickly learn the difference between an animal, a vegetable, and a mineral. Yes, a fruit like a banana qualifies as a vegetable…tho’ it did not seem correct to me when I was 6.
One person thinks of something. Let’s pretend he is thinking of a skunk.
He says, “I‘m thinking of something. Is it an animal, vegetable, or mineral?’
The players take turns asking one question. ” Is it a vegetable?”
Play the Waiting Game with the Game Animals, Vegetable or Mineral. See the post for more quiet game ideas for playing in a waiting room.
NO! It’s not a vegetable.
“Is it a mineral?”
“NO. Wrong!”
The next player knows that whatever is on the leader’s mind is an animal by the process of elimination. “Is it an animal?”
Yes! You get to ask another question.
Is this animal bigger than a breadbox?
…and so on until the kind of animal is narrowed down.
Is this animal brown?
Does this animal live in the woods?
Is it a skunk?
“Ah, you guessed it! A SKUNK! Pe-yew!”
How to play the Waiting Game. Is a skunk an “Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral?”
Most Waiting rooms do not have skunks there, but I had skunk tails in my oversized purse.
……to be continued…
Discover this blogger…
I enjoyed reading another blogger post, and you will too: Indoor Fun at Home: No Energy, No Space, No TV, No Problem
Waiting Room: A Parents Survival Guide
Here are some tips we can use to teach our kids How to Wait Patiently
Who wants to help put together Waiting Room Activity Bags?
Sneak peak at ideas for Waiting Room Activity Bags Contents….
Stickers…
Stickers like these Unicorn party stickers
Small coloring books not pictured.
Cats and Dogs finger puppets. Small enough to carry in your purse for the kids.
Puppy dog note pads small enough to carry in your purse to those times when the kids must play The Waiting Room Game
My e-commerce shop “Heart Felt Play Store,” was only a fun hobby and is no more.
However, this post describes some games suggested to play in the car while on a long ride in my up-and-coming new printed book available in March. To get another sneak peek at Healthy Parenting – Happy Kids, click HERE.
Healthy Parenting – Happy Kids
Unplugged Games for All Ages
I apologize for the confusion with the title change. There are other books with the same title, so I changed the title after I made this mock-up of the book cover.
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