Goofy Games That Never Get Old

If you want to amuse a small child, some things never get old. Here are a few of my favorites.

1. Pretend to fall asleep in the middle of the floor. I promise they will wake you up.

2. Pretend you can't find them. Ask, "Amelie, have you seen Amelie anywhere?" When she says, "I'm right here!" say, "No, not you. I'm looking for the Amelie who [has blond hair, runs really fast, gives great hugs, has a pink shirt on, etc]." It's funny every time.

3. Tickle them and say sternly, "No laughing!" Or bounce them on your knee and say, "Hold still!" This has endless possibilities.

4. Turn them into a pizza. Spread imaginary sauce all over them, sprinkle on cheese and toppings, bake them, then gobble them up. They will beg for more. Try making cake or cookies with them next to prevent your own boredom.

5. Give active orders with numbers: Do 10 jumping jacks. Run to the kitchen and back 3 times. Touch your toes 8 times. Jump like a frog 12 times. Twirl around until you fall over.

6. Ring Around the Rosie, Duck Duck Gray Duck, Hide and Seek, London Bridges, Farmer in the Dell, Doggy Where's Your Bone: these are classics for a reason.

The latest in our house in Mean Inspector. The girls clean the house and I knock on the door and inspect everything using a really bad accent. It's confusing, but the Mean Inspector likes to get angry, so he likes it when he finds a mess and gets very angry when things are clean. I feel a little guilty about this, but Elizabeth has friends that come over and beg to clean the house so we can play Mean Inspector. Works for me.

Most of these will work on toddlers to at least second graders. Some work on babies too. There's no fee for these brilliant ideas - just enjoy and add your own in the comments!