Sock Fight! 3 Active Family Fun Games

Sock Fight! Active Family Fun!

It all started with my Mom.  I came around the corner at  age 9 or 10 and thump!  I got hit with a sock bundle. What?  My quiet, 5’3″ mother stood in front of a pile of socks getting ready to hit me again.  Ahhh! I ran looking for a bundle of socks to throw back.  Family sock fights-active family fun- without the fuss!  Start one with your family tonight!

How to Create a sock fight:

1. Roll up a pair of socks into a ball-like a snowball
2. Get about 10 balls per person
3. Can set rules and have instructions
4. Or my favorite was an ambush-other players catch on quickly
5. Pick an appropriate time ( after dinner, right after school, weekend morning).Laughing so hard you can’t aim well is part of the fun. Watch out for furniture and make sure to play in a room with minimal breakable items.  Socks are soft making causalities few in this rambunctious game.

Who Are You?

In the family we all play our parts.  What if you were to choose a different person in the family and impersonate them? My son at age of three would put on Daddy’s big shoes and play going to work.  He mimicked what my husband said when leaving the house, went around kissing everyone good-bye, put on Daddy’s shoes, took his keys and headed out the door with wave and a smile.   In this active family fun game, Dad becomes Mom, youngest becomes oldest, brothers change with sisters or even choose the roll of the family dog.  Each person in the family acts out or uses words to characterize other members of the family.

How to create a roll play switch:

1. Choose a time like dinner, car ride, or waiting for seating at a restaurant.
2. Set boundaries- nothing crude, rude or hurtful, mimic a habit, portray a walking or standing style, repeat the words the person uses on a regular basis, use their voice.
3. Include movement, switch chairs, wear the shoes of  the other person, go out or come in the way a person would
4. Set up a story line
   1. Talk About Your Day ( What you imagine the other person did that day)
   2. Fantasy Summer Vacation (If  you were Dad instead of you, what would you do on vacation)
   3. Favorite Memory ( Tell a favorite family memory from another person’s perspective, e.g. what the family dog thought about Christmas)

Remind players that this is silly time, so the truth can be stretched or exaggerated to help the story.  Props can be helpful, too.

On the Bus

My boys love moving vehicles of any kind.  A train, a bus, a car , a plane, a space ship, if it moves the boys want to be in it going somewhere.  This can easily be done in the family dinning area.

1. Align the chairs one behind the other in the configuration of the vehicle
2. Draw straws for drivers, attendants, passengers
3. For us, the person that is driving gets to pick the destination
4. Similar to the Magic School Bus this vehicle can morph into something else
   

   Magic School Bus is a Fun Learning Tool -Click Pic for More.

5.  Is there a ticket?  A fee to pay once on the bus?
6. A special place to sit or stand?
7. Have the driver describe what is happening outside and passengers play along
8. Switch roles about every 5-10 minutes, new driver can change the location or stay with the same thing

With two boys “active family fun” that builds relationships, moves bodies and builds memories are fun at my house.  Think back to your own family.  What do you remember most?  Tumbling over with laughter after a sock whizzed past my head is a happy place I hold onto.