Need a little pick-me-up in the form of fun? Or maybe some people in your home are asking what you might like for Mother’s Day? We have ideas…ones proven to work! Spoiler: Indoor Bocce can be taken outside…doesn’t take up much space, nor pose any of the risk of traditional bocce. And is so, so, so very fun!!!

When we were little kids, and my mom was 30-years-old, 3 kids in tow, 5’5″ and super petite, with her long locks in pig tails, she always came outside to play with us. She played and laughed and had so much fun, and would side wink at all passers-by assumptions that she was either one of the kids or maybe the babysitter. I love my mom. She has the best guilty/not guilty side wink + smirk ever. And she used to rock some great pig tails.

Both of my parents have always been awesome at playing all the games, with all of us. They just both love to have fun. Dad’s number one rule has always been “Work hard. Play harder.”

Family Games #AtHome: Fun Mother’s Day Gift Ideas

Fast forward 40 years to visiting my same fun parents (who still love to play) in Florida last winter break. After a delicious lunch out, my father flashed his latest Tommy Bahama reward card for our après lunch walk outing. The man loves nothing, (other than my mom, and playing everything—especially golf) more than a free gift. He ended up trading it for three sets of these indoor bocci balls, one set for each of his own kids—is how we are reminded again, that he loves us too.

Fast forward 4 months to Covid 19 Quarantine Week 6 (ish)—where there’s a limit to what we can actually play outdoors in city-sized situations at home. All I have to say is thank you Mom and Dad. Those bocce balls, and your infectious gift in encouraging everyone around you to play more, are giving the kids and me our best times right now. And so are all these other things, that I will sheepishly admit to owning and unashamedly own that I actually play with my kids in relatively confined spaces, more frequently right now, b/c we’ve got to work the fun in here somewhere. Right? Dad’s rules…

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1/ Not Darts » Darts are a little dangerous. Soft darts are same idea, no harm done. And can get hung outside, even with a suction cup hook on a door or window, still reasonably safe. And fun.

2/ Corn Hole » Classic, backyard fun! And these boards are gorgeous. And hey, Philly Vendor!!!

3/ Indoor Bocce » Similar to the soft set my folks gifted us, slightly better priced and ‘zonable’. Or just go crazy and order the fancy Tommy Bahama ones. We’ve played in the kitchen, on the patio, and on the roof. I think the patio is my favorite. Our otherwise long, basically dead-space alley was made for exactly this.

4/ Giant Toppling Tower » Truth be told, I still have one kid who gets so upset when they knock it over, pulling their piece, that there are, at times, tears. We’re building life skills and resiliency here…one block at a time. For the rest of us, it is seriously so fun to just wait for it to crash! Done, let’s do it again!

5/ Lawn Bowling » You don’t even need a lawn!!!! Works on decks and patios, and indoors too — on carpet and floors! So easy! So fun!!!

6/ Ring Toss » Caribbean dreams come true right on your own back patio. I don’t think I’ll ever play this game and not think of the islands. I also love that it’s so simple to set up right on our own little home islands right now.

7/ Balance Board » My strong recommendation on this one — start on a carpet. And move everything out of the way. But you’ll get better faster than you’d guess, and it’s so fun once you get the hang of it! They even say it’s exercise. Truth be told, I’ve never used the video…but you could and then call it a workout. I just like to hop on it for fun. So do the kids. It’s great for tension release and creative resets.

8/ Yard Pong » I mean listen, some of us are just going to have had more practice and will be better at this than others. And no, I’m not stopping you from pulling out the red plastic cups and ping pong balls, and filling those cups with sparkling water for family fun. But these… definitely take the fun up a notch. No harm done to the dining table/family conference table.

9/ Hookey » Is there a better time to play hookey than smack dab in the middle of a work-from-home school-from-home weekday? Nope, there is not. Now is a great time for this.

10/ Putting Green » The kids and I have big dreams of building our own mini golf course outside one of these days. We do that all the time in the house with all the things, and play with plastic balls and clubs. For now…we’re very seriously playing with this…and yes we make a game of it when we do it together. Though I do feel like the rules constantly change not in my favor. Who cares? We’ll all have a stronger short game in the end.

OK, time to go play, again. I might even channel my mother and pop my hair in some pigtails for this next round of no, you can’t beat mom in bocce. Not yet sweet people, not yet.
xoxo,
A

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