Cookie's Chronicles: Play Time: "Name Something Real!"

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Play Time:
"Name Something Real!"

I'd like to share with you a new, highly entertaining and educational game, invented by the master himself.

Here are the rules, as best as I can tell.

Name Something Real

1. Name something, as directed, that is real. Pretty much anything qualifies as long as it exists in real life. You may be asked to name something "in the whole world" or something "in the whole house". DO NOT deviate from these restrictions, else you will have to start again (apparently that is a very, very bad thing). Four-year-olds are nothing if not dramatic.

2. Define said real thing. You have three chances to come up with the correct definition.

3. When providing potential guesses as to the definition of the thing, be as silly as possible. Tapping your head and saying "think, think, think" a la Whinnie the Pooh will earn you bonus giggles.

4. Exclaim with theatrical surprise when told by the master that your guesses are incorrect. It also helps to scratch your head a little in confusion and dismay.

5. Be particularly impressed when the master informs you of the name for the thing that you described, which is not the thing that you first named.

6. After you have guessed incorrectly, and amusingly, exactly three times, ask the master, "What IS the correct definition?"

7. Show genuine interest in the response and use particular facial and verbal expressions to indicate your having been enlightened by the master.

8. Extend this fabulous game by asking questions to further elaborate on the master's definition (see example below).

Here is an example from this morning's session, held, as is the norm, at the breakfast table. (Warning: It is wise to serve only clear liquids if simultaneously eating and playing this sometimes hysterically funny game.)

Jack: Name something real in our WHOLE HOUSE!

Me: Okay. Uhhhhhhhhh. Ummmmmm. A fork!

Jack (already giggling in anticipation): What's a fork?

Me: It's.... something that you use to make your hair look tidy.

Jack: Ha, ha, noooooo. That's a comb, silly!

Me: Oh. Right! Hmmm. Well, then it must be something that you dip into that wet colourful stuff and wipe around on a piece of paper to make a pretty picture!

Jack: Ho, ho, ho, noooooo. That's a paintbrush, silly!

Me: Oh, ya! I knew THAT! Let's see. Hmmm.... Think, think, think. Ah-ha! I know just what it is! It's that thing we use to make delicious fruit smoothies!

Jack: HA, HA, HA!!! Noooooooo, silly. THAT's not a FORK! That's a BLENDER! Silly mommy!

Me: REALLY??? Huh. Well, then what IS a fork, Jack?

Jack: It's something that you EAT with!

Me: Oh. Kind of like hands?

Jack: No, you hold it IN your hand!

Me: Oh!! And then you eat it?

Jack: NO!!! Ha, ha, ha. You use it to pick UP food. You eat the FOOD, silly!

Me: OH! I get it!

Jack: Mommy, name something real in the WHOLE WORLD!

Me: Uhhhhh. A t-shirt!

And so on.....

This game is brilliant. It's fun. The master laughs a lot, which is good for everyone's well being. It teaches creativity. It tests his ability to take a concept and apply a label to it (in naming the thing that you described which was not the thing that you named), and it tests his ability to accurately define the thing that you named. This is not to mention what it does to exercise the master's mama's brain. Oy! Having to come up with ever new things to name as well as unique and amusing definitions for these things is a serious neural workout!