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Sarah
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| Posted: Nov 23 2010 at 11:25am | IP Logged
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On Thanksgiving we will be hosting some families bringing the total to 17 children.
The teens and little girls always seem to be okay but the boys ages 5 to 10 seem lost. I will have 5 of those to entertain on a chilly evening when getting outside is impossible. Windchills will be terrible. Seems like they like to terrorize the girls playing sweetly.  They are great boys but you know how it goes when sugar, boredom, and close quarters all meet. 
What could they do for several hours indoors that would not take too much parental involvement other than monitoring nearby? What should I have on hand? Any ideas to keep these 5 guys somewhat calm but still having fun would be appreciated.
I just need ideas to "pull out of a hat" as the evening unfolds.
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Six boys ages 16, 14, 11, 7, 5, 2 and one girl age 9
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VanessaVH
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| Posted: Nov 23 2010 at 4:10pm | IP Logged
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Do you have legos or other building materials? That can keep my boys busy for a while, maybe some challenges of what they can build written or drawn on cards ahead of time ( I just saw a new lego game for sale, that looked like it was just cards of thing they had to build before the timer went off and the other people had to guess what it was)
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ALmom
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| Posted: Nov 23 2010 at 4:20pm | IP Logged
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Let's see - that is a tough one since outside would be my answer but I don't have windchills like you are talking about.
Do you have a space in your house - ie a garage warm enough and safe enough for:
some sort of active game - table tennis, a lower height basketball hoop, a soccer ball for soccer drill races.
If that doesn't work - what about a chin up bar in a doorway with someone on a timer if you are timing hang times. Or count chin ups.
Without equipment - what about curl up competition or stair training (my bil with all his boys did that every year after thanksgiving for many, many years with his crew. It does burn off both calories and energy :) so maybe everyone would get into that one as long as it doesn't degenerate to dangerous pushing on the stairs.
Some of it depends on the space - if the space is too tight then it is too hard to do much of the above without creating havoc.
Oh, one game boys love if you can stand the noise is PIT. It doesn't take up a lot of space - just a timer and a teachers type bell to smash. Be prepared for the bell to really take a beating!!!!
We also have a table the boys built (low to the ground that fits neatly in one room) it has a grid and various terrain marked on it. They have melted different plastic pieces to represent rations, tanks, airplanes and any and assundry military equipment and they have full scale military strategy game. They also made up a game like this using a simple deck of cards. Do you have any boys - or know the parents of the boys well enough to ask them for ideas. Elicit ideas from some of the boys, too.
A book of various paper airplanes might work - with lots of paper, as long as you don't mind the test flights through the house. Might want to make sure it is in a room without too many delicate things.
Legos as long as there are not infants and you can confine to one room might provide some entertainment though if folks get too distracted they can end up strewn all over the place.
Use paper for the table covering and let everyone decorate your table cloth. (My boys were not big on this one but then they never liked anything involving writing implement in hand and they were not particularly fond of crafts).
Another option is giving the boys real work to do - they love that. So - what work is there on thanksgiving day itself? At our place it is all outside work - like raking into a leaf pile or ... so I'm not much help here.
One year my husband had us all play the whisper game (adults and kids mixed together). A very short version of this might set off some hysterical laughter and be something to pull out if things seem to be getting too squirrelly.
My bil usually has something that needs tending - something requiring some physical exertion - maybe a toilet to fix or something  and all the previously idle boys become his assistants.
Ok, I'm pretty low on ideas. We have never, ever had to deal with the cold so maybe someone from northern climes can give you more ideas.
Janet
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Sarah
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| Posted: Nov 23 2010 at 5:34pm | IP Logged
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Thanks ladies. Really. This does give me an idea of what I can have on hand. Really appreciate your ideas.
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Six boys ages 16, 14, 11, 7, 5, 2 and one girl age 9
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Aagot
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| Posted: Nov 23 2010 at 7:27pm | IP Logged
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A little tournament would be fun. Depending on what you have on hand it could include:
ping pong, billards, air hockey, etc.
or made up, timed challenges such as:
-knot tying
-block stacking (who can make the tallest tower in 30 seconds)
-rolled-up-sock basketball toss
-lego design (with twenty blocks build a rocket or x, y or z)
-paper airplane flying
-balloon rockets (attach long balloons to a straw on a string and race two at a time
-each participant gets a brown bag of odds and ends to make the most unique thing.
The tournament could be run in a playoffs manner.Two people go head to head in an event the winner plays the winner of the other pair etc. An award is given for each event.
Or a game of charades.
HTH,
Aagot
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stellamaris
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| Posted: Nov 23 2010 at 7:49pm | IP Logged
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Twister and charades are two fun games that most ages can play. Another thought is having them work on putting on a play about the first Thanksgiving. Provide a few props (or they make, for example Indian vests and headbands from brown paper bags) and some parameters ( you want certain features of the story, maybe the famine the Pilgrims suffered or the food the Indians provided). Providing a short list of key episodes they have to include is important for boys, otherwise you will get a "play" that consists entirely of something like the Indians wrestling or the Pilgrims stalking turkeys all around your house :). The girls would enjoy this, too. You might also provide a large cardboard box for the Mayflower. Coloring it would definitely occupy the younger children.
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In Christ,
Caroline
Wife to  dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
Flowing Streams
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Hosting Boys-need ideas
