A Little Playfulness Turns the Tide

I first came across a book called "Playful Parenting," almost 4 years ago. I even blogged it enthusiastically.

In today's post, I blog it again. Not because I've actually read it, but because I found this wonderful excerpt on the web:

"Parenting and playfulness can seem like contradictions, but sometimes we just need a little push to find each other and have fun together. I was at an outdoor concert, dancing off on the side with my nine-year-old daughter, when a mother and son came over to the dance area. She started dancing a little, but he just stood with his arms folded, a little too shy to dance now that he was there. He was about six or seven. His mother said, starting to get angry, 'You dragged me up here and now you're not going to dance?!' He folded his arms tighter and literally dug his heels in. I thought, we can all see where this is going. I said, 'Oh no, he's doing a new dance,' and I folded my arms just like his and gave him a big smile. He smiled back and moved his hands to a different position, which I copied. His mom caught on right away and started copying him too. We all laughed. He started moving his shoulders up and down to the music and his mother said, 'You're dancing!' Then he started to dance and he had a great time. We all did (including my daughter, who waited patiently while I did 'the playful parenting thing,' and then wanted my complete attention again). A little playfulness turned the tide."

"A little playfulness turned the tide." Beautiful.

Nerdy Wordy

Nerdy Wordy is a challenging word game for two players, based on the traditional children's paper-and-pencil game of "Word Square." Based, but better.

Each player has a tray and a collection of letter cubes. The letter cubes cover the whole alphabet, and are designed in alphabetic order. Thus, there are cubes with letters A-F, J-L, M-R, S-W, X and Y. There are also two blank (wild) cubes. Players take turns selecting letters. A selected letter can be dropped anywhere within the 5x5 matrix. Thus, though each player is using the same letter, what they end up with on their boards will be different.

Though the two trays make you think of Battleship, Nerdy Wordy is a completely different game. Players get points for each word they make (from 2-5 letters long) and get extra points if they are able to make five-letter words on all 4 sides of the grid. Though the cubes store nicely in their respective trays, it's not really a car game - as you need a surface on which to hold and sort your cubes.

The game can get very challenging. Especially if you count 2- and 3-letter words. And even more especially if you happen to be playing against a Scrabble player. The game can be made easier (scoring only 5- and/or 4-letter words), without disturbing the strategic interest.

The letter cubes, because they limit the letters that can be used, and because of the addition of two blank cubes, add great depth and interest to the game. For two word-loving players of equal skill, age 8 and up, the game will undoubtedly prove to be Major FUN.