[The following activity is for those free moments when
"there's nothing to do, Ma!" It's one way of keeping the
children put in one place and pleasantly occupied. Have the
children prepare this game beforehand, to use on Pesach. If
you let your children color on Chol Hamoed, this is the
perfect time. If not, read and use for a lazy afternoon.]
The pencil is wildly scribbling across the paper. Hands are
flying and everyone is guessing what Chani is drawing. It's
a game of charades. Chani doesn't speak. She draws out her
word. She continues to make her picture with her pencil
drawing over the most important part of her drawing. It is
obvious to her what she is drawing. But will it be obvious
to us? The sand is almost at the bottom of the "minute-glass
timer," a great thing to have around the house for speeding
things up. Time is just about up. Esti suddenly blurts out,
"Running." Yes, she got the right answer. A man running!
Chani tried to draw an action word and yes, Esti got the
clue and the right answer. Chani had drawn a very simple
stick figure with the emphasis on the stick legs positioned
to run. Nothing complicated.
Esti took her token for choosing the right word answer. The
next girl now throws the dice for a number to correspond to
the next picture word. She renders the word "send" into an
action picture of an arm holding an envelope. The level of
excitement is high and the hand that holds the pencil is
flying. The clock is ticking and the children are guessing.
The forms on paper become pictures of action, object, person-
place-animal and other words. At the games end, the girls
have forty-five boxes on three pieces of paper. The
assortment of picture charades includes: stick figures that
include babies and mothers davening, people walking
and carrying objects. We have baby carriages, houses,
candlesticks, a kettle and bottles, baskets of fruit,
indefinable animals, plants, trees, faces, people waving
from airplanes flying over the globe or cars and a row of
what looked like clothing hanging from a clothesline. I am
impressed with their output and originality. They describe
words and images on their own, using a few lines. The girls
read each other's hieroglyphics very well.
For children that have a hard time verbalizing, this game
seems ideal. For kids that verbalize well, this game is
great for their powers of visualization. And for those of us
who might think, "Just another game," we are impressed by
the resources that the children utilized to give form to
their understanding of a word.
Buying a ready-made game in a compact and official box does
make life easier for us parents. But this game is basic and
can be played on the spot without a kit from the store.
Hangman and tic-tac-toe, games with the most basic of tools,
a scrap of paper and a pencil, have stood countless years as
popular childhood games. The game from the store consists of
a stack of cards with five words on each side, dice, an
hourglass of sand (really a minute-or three- minute-glass),
tokens to count points, and most importantly, paper and pens
to draw the charade words.
We can eliminate everything except for the essential list of
words to choose from and the paper and pencil. We can make
up our own list of words, provide a few pieces of paper, a
pencil for each player, a timing device (optional). That is
all.
We can return to the values of the simple and classic games
that we remember as children. And, we can choose kosher
Jewish topics.
MAKE UP YOUR OWN QUICK-DRAW WORD GAME WITH JEWISH
CONCEPTS
You decide what to include or eliminate from the wealth of
choices.
Sample Categories
Shabbos and Yom Tov Chosson and Kalla
The Jewish Home Halochos of Loshon Hora
Kashrus Chessed
Mitzvos The Parsha
Pesukim The Five Senses
Action Words Ceremonial Objects
Inanimate Objects Man
Animals Nature
Shapes, Size, Measurements and Direction
Directions
This is a game of charades but we do a drawing of the word
rather than act it out. The object of the game is to guess
the word from another player's sketch. The players have one
minute to guess the right word.
1) Sit down with the children and decide on how many words
you will have in the game. Young beginners can start with
ten words. Advanced players can list hundreds of thousands
of words. Forty is a good amount for a trial run.
2) Choose categories and the list of words for each
category.
3) Write the words on cards according to categories or on a
piece of paper. You may want to mix categories on each card.
(If you are industrious, make permanent cards to save and
use again.)
4) Prepare the drawing paper by folding or marking off 12,
15 or 20 squares on each paper.
5) Prepare a bell, timer, hourglass or stopwatch that will
sound at one minute.
6) Decide who will go first and if there will be partners
who work together or not.
7) Begin game by throwing dice for a number that corresponds
to a word or decide on another way to "get" a word.
8) Begin the timer and give each player one minute to either
draw or guess the word. The player that guesses the word
gets a point. The player with the most points wins. But, of
course, the winning is in the challenge and in the time
spent together learning the value of language, both spoken
and visual.
