Have you ever heard of tiddlywinks and pick up sticks?
When I was a kid, I played both of those fun games. It was also fun to play marbles, jacks, and checkers. Those games don’t need:
- Batteries
- Controlling devices, or
- Internet connection
And they’re great for developing hand-eye coordination, patience, and perseverance. They can also be played in small areas, quiet spots, and even outdoors. Ooohhh…yes, I said outdoors. Imagine taking some rainbow colored marbles outside, drawing a circle in the dirt, and getting your shooter ready. Then, Pow! Your thumb flicks it into the middle of the marbles in the circle, and you capture that awesome cats-eye marble from your opponent.
Tiddlywinks and pick up sticks are like that, too.
With tiddlywinks you take a plastic disc or “wink” and use it to click down on other winks to make them pop up in the air. The idea is to get the wink to plop into a jar or box in the center. Get all yours in first and win.
Pick up sticks is just like the name says. You have a box of different colored sticks that each are worth different points. You shake them out into a pile on a table or the floor. And you have to pick up sticks without making other sticks move. The one with the highest score wins.
Tiddlywinks and pick up sticks and marbles and all those other games may not have bright, shiny lights and sound effects, but you can still play ’em even when there’s no electricity. And you never know when that might happen.
~ Rhyme Time For The Day ~
Tiddlywinks and pick up sticks
And rainbows and balloons…
Maybe add some marbles, too,
And silly, happy tunes.
Funtime in the bright sunshine
To while the hours away…
Oh, and what I wouldn’t give
To be a kid today.
I’d set up the checkerboard
And play a game or two…
Then go grab my bag of jacks
And see how well I’d do.
Maybe I’d go find my friends,
And we could fly a kite
Tied onto our fishing pole…
We’d send it out of sight.
Then we’d reel it in again
And go and get our bikes…
And we’d ride to secret lands
‘Cross levees and ‘cross dikes.
After that I’d say goodbye
And we’d all go our ways.
Yes, I guess that’s just how my
Imagination plays.
Stay tuned,
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