The holidays bring everyone together, filling up houses with so much laughter, joy, and love. Not only does this create strong connections, but for some families playing games are what makes them happy. School-age 2 is getting in the holiday spirit by bringing out their fun, competitive, and creative side by playing a game called ‘Pompom toss’.
The educator started by setting up 6 baskets on each end of the table. It was designed like a triangle with 3 in the back, 2 in the middle, and then 1 in the front. Each team or individual player was given 4 big pompoms to toss. The idea of the game is for each player to take turns trying to throw a pompom into the baskets. Once they get a pompom into a basket, that basket is removed from play. They continue to play until one player has no more baskets in front of them and the one who throws the pompom in the last basket first, wins.
The children decided on who was going first by playing rock-paper-scissors. Ezra went first and the game began. As Ezra was throwing the pompoms into the baskets, this enhanced his gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination by focusing and aiming where he wanted the pompoms to go. Then it was Beckett's turn to try and throw the pompom into a basket. Even though Beckett and Ezra were on opposite teams, they still cheered each other on, as well as other friends who came to watch. “Go Ezra go! Go Beckett go!” Claire said.
As we came to the end of the game, everyone cheered for both of them and eventually Beckett won. Both Ezra and Beckett shook hands and said “Good game!”. Beckett, as the winner, got to play against a new player; this continued until there was a champion. This exemplified sportsmanship by treating each other with respect, playing fairly, and being gracious in victory or defeat. They showed empathy by understanding and acknowledging the other's feelings, as well as being positive by not belittling or being rude to one another.
In the end, as much as we all would love to win, it's more than okay to lose or make mistakes. If we don’t make mistakes or lose from time to time we will never learn or grow from them. We wonder which games our families enjoy playing during the holidays and if we can somehow learn how to play one together.
