How They Play

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #27:

Play

The other day I did a thorough clean-out of Nicky's room while he was at school. I'm pleased to report that his room still has all of the components I reflected on in this post. He is still enveloped in the innocence of childhood. Junior high hasn't ruined him yet! 

While I was cleaning his room, I thought about the way he currently plays and how that has evolved as he's gotten older. I thought I'd take this time to jot down some of the ways each of my kids "play" right now:

Nicky - age 12.8

-enjoys building with Legos. He will often build little contraptions like a bow and arrow or a pinball machine. Over the summer I printed some Lego challenge cards off the internet. I would hand him one, and then he would go down to his room to build something and then come show me. Here is his "something from a movie:"

Paul Blart on a Segway

-is really into trick shots, so he will set up trick shot challenges involving incessant bottle flipping or elaborate ball tossing

-loves making things out of items from the recycle bin. He's actually very clever. He has made several skee ball, air hockey, and pinball games. 

-enjoys board games and is actually pretty good at them 

-never asks to have friends over 

-likes to listen to Disney play lists while he plays

-enjoys a few video games - a little Minecraft and a little Mario - but is very good about playing in moderation (I think Zoe might be the one I have to regulate video games for)

Daisy - age 10

-does a lot of arts and crafts

-has never really been into dolls, but out of the blue, wanted a doll for her birthday 

-is more possessive of than actually interested in using her toys

-asks for friends to come over constantly and does not like to play alone

-always wants to have music from Descendants blasting while she is playing in her room

Zoe - age 6.9 & Eva - age 4

-have very similar playing habits, so I figured I'd group them together. They are my children closest in age

-ask to play with friends all the time

-like to play "store" and constantly gather up items and line them on the stairs or couch like a store display. Likewise, they will play "library" and make book displays

-drag toys all over the house

-love to play dress up and go through several costume changes in any given session

-want to decorate everything

-love stuffed animals and play with them more than any other toys

-use hair accessories for play. The stuffed animals always have scrunchies around their necks for collars and bows clipped on their ears

-are just really, really messy. They group toys together in really random ways while they play (why do you need a backpack with five pieces of play food, three Hot Wheels cars, a hairbrush, a bag of almonds, two Beanie Boos, a sheet of stickers, and seven pairs of your underwear in it to play animal doctor?)

-enjoy playing house. Especially Eva. I love when friends come over, and I hear them say, "Wanna play house?"

Tea Party