relaxing games for kids (before bed)

gayleygoo

Granny Went To Market? (Not sure how well known it is... it's a memory game where you have to say everything that Granny went to buy and add your own at the end.

Person A: Granny went to market, and she bought (e.g) a cake
Person B: Granny went to market, and she bought a cake, and a ...hat.
Person C: Granny went to market, and she bought a cake, and a hat, and an onion....and so on. Throw random and wacky items in there for fun

We also play card games and backgammon. Or a drawing game where one person draws a head and folds it over (leave the neck lines howing so the next person knows where to start drawing from), next person draws a body, folds it over, and the next draws the feet/tail/whatever. Hand it over to a child to unroll, and see what you all drew. I've kept many of these!

Some games can be overstimulating, particularly if they are physical (there was the time we all played hide and seek after 9pm. The memories are totally worth it though ) But with thinking games you can tell when they are getting tired and they're starting to zone out, and hopefully get them to bed before the crazy post-sleepy hyperness and/or meltdown kicks in.