A silly walk
The other week we went to the pantomime and had a lovely time. We made it even more of a day out by taking the train and bus there and back (which we very rarely do). The children thought this was great, although it meant we had a 20 min walk at the end of a long day at bedtime in the dark.
By the time we got off the train for the final walk home, the children were very wired and over tired. We were struggling to keep control of them walking in the dark, which always worries me for safety reasons. I needed to think of something fast. Here’s what we played….
Silly walk game
All you need for this game is children and an imagination.
I called out “walk like a giant” and they did. That was fantastic, they all started walking in the right direction at the same pace!
Next I called “walk like a pigeon”, so they all started taking tiny steps together!
It was fantastic, my children were all finally cooperating and staying together. I had to keep this up all the way home, which we did. Daddy joined in too. The children loved it. Our very stressful walk home in the dark was turned from a nightmare into a fun game, so simple. However, I was rather keeping my fingers crossed no one I knew was driving past at the time, as I did look a little silly skipping and pretending to walk like various animals etc!
Here is a list of suggestions you could use:
- Giant
- pigeon
- skip
- jump
- bird
- mouse
- elephant
- dinosaur
- rabbit
- cat
- dog
- penguin
- fox
- car
- aeroplane
- walk on the line
- no walking on the cracks
Basically anything goes, from animals, to different sized steps, to walking on lines or being a vehicle. The world is your oyster. Let the children’s own imagination take over once they get the hang of it. We had some weird and wonderful creatures we became on that walk home…..fantastic! We did have a few laughs together too!
This is a great way to engage children and get them to cooperate, to make them walk safely without nagging or shouting (though there was a little shouting and roaring when we became a few of the animals). We will be playing this again.
What a great idea….So simple but sounds so effective! x
Thank you, it definitely worked that night
Love it, what a great idea and makes it so much more fun too.
The children loved it!
Great idea, so simple and yet I totally get why kids would love it!!! Thanks for sharing it
#countrykids
Thanks
Great idea…. and one I will be using when out for walks, weather it be to help keep them safe, or just to make our nature walks more interesting…. I do love being silly with the girls, if I know im not being watched, Teehee! Thank you for the idea. #countrykids
Thanks, it is a great trick to remember for those moments when needed x
Love it, a great idea! I will have to remember that next time we are out and no one wants to listen to me
#countrykids
Thanks, it’s a great way to get their attention
Love this! Simple yet effective. Going to try it on our next long walk home from school #countrykids
Thanks, they really enjoyed it
What a great idea, it’s always a worry walking in the dark along busy roads with little ones so this is a great idea. It would’ve been great to see you all walking along doing silly walks. I bet your three had a fab time though. Thanks for linking up with Country Kids.
Yeah, I was hoping no one saw me
Great idea, I bet they all loved it!
Thank you, we all had a lot of fun
Great idea! It’s things like these that really work with kids.
Thanks, it captures their imagination
Lovely idea, often it’s times like this at the end of a long day that inspiration fails me! I do things like, follow the line, or don’t step on the cracks (which is really hard and can ages on certain payments!) Glad it helped you out and you all had fun too
Following a line and stepping on cracks are always a good one
Oh yes, my kids love doing this! But, foolishly, I’d never thought to do it when out and about to make a walk more bearable, we just do it in the house! Will try it, thanks! x
Children find this so much fun and the bonus is you can play it anywhere x
Aha this is the secret weapon that you are talking about and it makes so much sense. Look at them in line! Love this and would try this with my son. I am having a hard time sometimes on our school run so this will be handy on one of those days when nothing works =) #letkidsbekids
Give it a go, its lots of fun, hope he enjoys it
This is a brilliant idea.I will use this with my crew, the big ones are more prone to wandering in their own direction x
Ah, yes , older children, wandering, not sure what age this will work til
A great idea. I’ll have to try this with my daughter, although the two boys rarely walk anywhere any more as they’re always on their bikes.
Bikes keep children cooperating often
I m taking note of this idea. We all have times when we need to motivate the kids to keep on going and making it fun for them is a great idea. Distraction works wonders for kids, the trouble i have is thinking of something to do when i m in that situation!
Yes, i often have trouble thinking of something appropriate too, this is a great one to have up your sleeve though
Such a briliant idea. So simple, and kids love things like this. I might try it with N when he’s bored in town!
It can really grab the children attention
Great idea and playing games definitely helps kids forget about tiredness or moaning and enjoy the walk home! Xx
Thank you x