Three Multi-tasking and Fun Ideas for Grandparents

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Multi-tasking is a popular buzzword and one I am particularly fond of. People who work with computers think they were the originators, but all of us caregivers know that we’ve been doing it long before someone invented a word for it. One way I love to multi-task is as a grandmother. I enjoy taking my playtime with my grandkids, incorporating some educational bits and pieces, and often wrapping it all up in a bow with Scriptural truths, or vice-versa – thus doing two or three things at once which is the perfect definition of multi-tasking. “How?” you ask. Read on and join me in this fun plan.

1. STORY-GO-ROUND – We enjoy doing this in the car, but it works anywhere. One person starts a story, tells a few sentences of it, then stops. The next person continues on and adds to it with anything they want. Then they stop, and the third continues, and so forth. I’ve done this with four year olds, and suspect even some three year olds might have fun with it. Generally, the younger the child, the shorter their part of the story. Then again, some toddlers can amaze you with how long they’ll go on. Older children can really have fun being creative and telling longer stories. You could even do this at home and write the story down. Then type it up and add hand-drawn pictures or family photographs. If you do something like that, I would suggest using Smilebox – http://www.smilebox.com/ . It’s quick and easy and something like this would make a great gift, especially for their parents or elderly relatives. For that matter, it would be a great gift for the children who created it. Think what a great motivator it can be for a child to see their words in print. We may be contributing to future famous writers!

2. RANDOM RHYMING – I pick a word and each of us takes turns rhyming it. Lots of fun with a great educational thrust. Then go a step further and add Scripture and Scriptural truths. For each word that is rhymed, give the meaning of the word. Whenever possible, give a Bible verse or Bible word meaning. For example – Kite, Might – “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.” (Zech. 4:6); Height – “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 8:38-39); and so on. Now I have to admit, I don’t have those exact words at the tip of my tongue. Well, I do have the Zechariah one at the ready, thanks to a song from the Psalty kids’ Christmas album which my children loved when they were young. But for the Romans verse, I’m more likely to say that “ God loves us so much that nothing can separate us from Him, no matter the height nor the depth.” It gets the point across simply and easily. Now you’ve got English, Bible and fun all rolled into one.

3. HIDE AND SEEK AND COUNT – We love to play hide and seek. It’s one of my grandkids’ favorite games. Instead of counting the normal way, 1-2-3-4-5, I started counting really loud by different numbers. For example, 2-4-6-8, or 3-6-9-12-15, or 5-10-15-20. It gives them a chance to hear the different ways of counting, and the more you do it, the sooner they’ll learn to count that way as well. I was thrilled when my four-year-old grandkids counted by 2’s to 20 the other day! Of course, they’ll also be learning this in preschool, kindergarten, and/or homeschool. But this is a fun way for us to reinforce what they’ve been learning.

What fun, educational, and multi-tasking games do you play with your grandkids? Please tell us about them in the comments below or by sending an email to Kaye@SandwichINK.com . Have fun! And here’s the link for the Psalty Christmas album – http://psaltyskidsstore.stores.yahoo.net/bcachcodi.html