Hello, friends hope you all are doing good. It has been more than 2years, each individual in the world is struggling to cope with this pandemic situation. Covid has affected many things like finance, jobs, politics, education, etc., across the globe. Students had to adapt to a new learning method as E-learning because of covid protocols.

The biggest challenge every parent faces is how to keep their kids away from gadgets or how to reduce their screen time. In, e-learning method students, are using tabs/laptops/computers to attend school and colleges. After school, they have to log in again to check their homework, revision, or extra-curricular activities. This is leading them to be on Gadget for maximum hours. So, their ultimate rescues are their parents, grandparents, siblings and, friends. They need to be introduced to various fun games or activities which will refresh their minds and also keep them away from gadgets for a while.

Sharing a few fun-filled games which we play with our son (Shaurya) or he plays with his friends during free time. These games are easy and fun for kids to keep them busy during holidays, harsh weather conditions, and, especially during this covid situation.

There are various Categories of Indoor games:-

1. Board Games – Games which you purchase from the market.
2. Homemade games – In this type of game, we can use materials that are available at home. 
3. Activity-Based games – These games are played by assigning physical activity.
4. Art & craft – basic materials need to be purchased other than this we can reuse materials available at home.  

So, let’s begin

I will share a list of games with a brief introduction in my blogs under the parenting section. 

BOARD GAMES

1. Snakes and Ladders
2. Ludo
3. Chess
4. Scramble 

1. Snakes and Ladders: A very popular game among kids. This is basic or the first board game kids will start to play because it’s simple and fun to play. Snakes and ladders known originally as Moksha Patam is an ancient Indian board game for two or more players and today it’s regarded as a worldwide classic game. 

How to play:

The snakes and Ladders game is a roll and move game. On the board, there are 100squares full of traps and tricks. There are a few numbers of “Ladders” and “Snakes” pictured on the board. As we all know ladders will take you up but the snake will take you down! But don’t worry this is just a game and all snakes are very cute 😊. It has a start number1 and ends No100 which are mentioned in each square i.e. from bottom No1 till No100 at the top. To reach the top we need to roll the dice and move further. In between, you will come across ladders that will take you up and snakes that are falling.

Winner: The player who reaches the final number 100 is the winner. if there are more than two players remaining players can continue to play to know runner-ups.

2. LUDO: LUDO is a classic fun game for family, friends, and kids. In Latin ludo means ‘I Play’. This is a strategy board game for two to four players, in which the players race their four tokens/pieces from start to finish according to the rolls of a single dice. Ludo is derived from the Indian game Pachisi but this game exists in many countries under various names and variations like Parcheesi, sorry, etc.  

Ludo board is a square shape with four different colored bases in each corner (yellow, green red, and blue). Each player is assigned a color and four tokens of the same color. The space outside of each base is the start position. The route leads clockwise around the board returning to a path with the same color as the base, then leading towards the home column reaching to the center home triangle. The dice are rolled to move forward. 

How to play

The player begins the game by placing their respective pieces in their base. A player must roll a six to move a piece out of the base and onto the start position. That piece is then in play. The player cannot make any other moves until at least one piece is in play. A player can move any of their pieces from 1 to 6 spaces on the route according to the number they roll. 

Rules of the 6’s on the dice. 

1. If a six is rolled, the player can choose to either move a piece out of his base to the start square or can move a piece that is already in the play.
2. Whenever a six is rolled by a player he/she gets an extra roll after his move. 
3. If a six is rolled three times back to back then the player loses his turn. 

Landing on the same square  

If a player’s piece lands on an opponent’s piece, the opponent’s piece is sent back to their base where he/she must roll a six again to move it out onto the starting square.

If a player lands on the same square occupied by one of his pieces, that space becomes blocked. A blocked space cannot be passed or landed on by an opponent’s piece. 

Winners: This can be sheer luck for winning. The first player who completes the journey of all four pieces by reaching the center of his/her home triangle, then he/she will be a winner. The remaining players continue the game to know the runner-ups. The player’s all four pieces should reach their home column by rolling dice and following the rules to be a winner or complete the journey. 

This is a very simple, easy, fun, and entertaining board game. Now, you can play this game online also with your loved ones. So, you get both options face to face and online. 

There is a difference between playing actual games Vs online games. Games which you play certainly create bonding, fun, laughter, memories with each other. So, as a parent, you can always suggest or introduce your kids to various games. creating your own game can also be more fun, like what I have modified for snakes & ladders.

Please visit the next blog post in continuation with same topic featuring other indoor games.