Charades, is it a kid or adult game?
Turns out it can be for both. In an adventure away from the house deep within the lands of green, we played charades with the children.
The challenges. One child who could not read. One parent and child with a quirky sense of humour. And two highly imaginative people.
This sounded like a recipe for disaster.
Turns out it was great fun. With a deck of cards with both simple drawings, and a few whispered words to the youngest to send her on the way, she revelled in mocking the simple motions for monkey, rabbit and car.
The only stumbling block came with the inanimate object of The Toothbrush. Not once, but twice.
Twice? A simple toothbrush, you say?
Yes, a toothbrush. But why? It’s easy. Make the motion of brushing your own teeth. Surely it could not be any simpler.
But here is where it got fun. It may be simple but for a child with a quirky sense of humour and one who didn’t quite understand the game, and it made for very strange motions.
The first time it got drawn, the child stood motionless in the middle of the concrete ground. We waited. And waited for her to move. Until eventually she came out with the words.
“I just have to stay here.”
We stared blankly back at her. Then we looked at each other. What did it mean? What object or animal would stare back at us, motionless? And so we guessed. Everything from elephant to mouse and all the objects in between, until she gave up standing there and said.
“I’m a toothbrush.”
We laughed with her. She found it so funny that we couldn’t guess what she was. Our chuckles filled the yard until our sides hurt and tears ran down all of our faces.
After a few more rounds, the dreaded Toothbrush came around again. This time another child took it upon themselves to get us guessing.
Instead of the nice motion of brushing your teeth, she lay on her side on the ground and moved her head up and down off the floor. She made herself the toothbrush, only we didn’t know it. And again we guessed. Buses, planes, and trains were thrown about into the air. Until a small voice said.
“I’m a toothbrush.”
Again, there was nothing to do but laugh. It shouldn’t have happened twice. How did the same card keep cropping up? We didn’t know. But we all had fun.
Thanks for reading,
S.McC.
P.s Link for my books here.
Sconnie Books 