Shares 6K How often do you find yourself waiting. What about waiting with your kids. These 18 simple and games to play while waiting in line quiet games to pass time with kids are pure genius. Next time you find yourself waiting, pull out these waiting games, aka fun games to pass time with your kids. Waiting is simply an unavoidable fact of life and understandably not our favorite thing to do, especially with kids in tow. The list of times we all have to wait is long. Waiting for periods of time with kids is as fun as games to play while waiting in line to nails scratching on a chalkboard. It can be downright unpleasant. Well… at least before you had this list of kid-approved waiting games to pass time. For adults, waiting 10 minutes seems brief but to children, 10 minutes of sitting in a waiting room can feel like agonizing torture. Kids, they get fidgeting, start bouncing around impatiently like a chipmunk who was just fed 2lbs of sugar and unless you have some form of entertainment, time moves as slow as watching paint dry — for you and for them. You might pull out a couple snacks which they eat in 15-seconds flat. Then you dump your purse upside looking for something you may have missed the last two times you checked. I started a list of fun games to pass time and help us all keep our sanity while we wait. These activities help through periods of clear focus, discipline and brain-building activities. Here are 18 kid-approved and wonderfully fun waiting games to pass the time. Older kids who are in sports can improve their reaction time with this simple activity. Make it a friendly competition between kids — one child takes their best time out of three and then another child has three turns to beat the set time. You might even have all the supplies already in your office. Building on the magnetic base, kids can see how high they can build their tower of paperclips or what shapes and designs they can orchestrate through magnetic play. You can also throw in household items like q-tips, cotton balls and old medicine droppers. Play with your kids or if you have more than two kids, make it a friendly competitions of elimination. For example, something that starts with A, then B, C and so on. Let your kids lead the game to practice recognizing letters and connecting to sounds when they sound out their surroundings. Throw the stones in your bag for a fun impromptu game of tic tac toe. The first person with three yellow, or three white lined in a row or diagonally wins that round. Use books, magazines, art, cars, etc. This is a fun game and great learning tool for cognitive recognition. Ask them to turn around and close their eyes while you remove one or two objects from the group. Once the kids turn back around, they need to figure out which object s are missing. A group of 6 — 10 items is best for toddlers and preschool aged. For older kids 5+, 10+ items work well and start by removing one item and then increase to 2-3 objects. Kids can kill time observing everyday objects through a — fibers on their clothes, grass, paper, books, food, bugs, money… the list is endless. One person stands facing another person and holds out their hands facing upwards. The person with their hands facing upwards is trying to slap the hands of the person above their own by bringing their hands around over top. The person on the top, is trying to outmaneuver the reaction of the other and move their hands before they get hit. Would you rather eat a worm or have a mud milkshake. Would you rather take a bath full of slime or swim in a pool full of Jello. The point is to drop the penny on the top of your shoe and get it to stay there, without it dropping off. An Etch a Sketch, Magna Doodle, Magnetic Silly Faces or Build a Face with Magnets are great at keeping kids occupied. The adult stands up and drops the feather, and the child tries to catch the feather before it touches the ground. You can also do this with a small piece of paper. Both are lightweight and will float side to side to the ground, giving time to coordinate grabbing it mid-air. See how many items your kids can find and name in that color, and then move from one color to the next. Color recognition is a great cognitive tool for object identification. I have three kids so I have three small tins they can rotate through and keep things fresh and no fighting over sharing.
