Letter parties and playing store

October 12, 2004

Kids are so creative and it's a lot of fun to participate in the games they make up.

Two recent activities at our house have been letter parties and kitchen store. A "letter party" is a game where you identify nouns that start with a certain letter. The kids don't know they are nouns they call them things. First we gather the stuffed animals to sit and participate and sometimes they do funny tricks for entertainment. Then Celine will read a letter that she has written on a sheet. Each person names a thing that starts with that letter. This results in much cheering and clapping and at this point the game becomes a show. Are you following this? I don't usually follow to well either, I just follow the kids lead.

Today the activity was "kitchen store". Celine was busy drawing plates, cutlery, vegetables and chicken on cardboard. Then she wanted me to cut them out for her. Then she decided she'd set up a kitchen store and sell her goods. Laurent wanted to set up and vegetable store in the same space. This caused some tension for awhile as Celine struggled with "the part of her that wants to share and not wants to share at the same time" (her words). Finally "all of her wanted to share" so they set up a store together. I was given nickels to shop with and a cornmeal box to put my goods in. I toured the store and was encouraged to ask questions about where to find things. The amazing thing was that whenever i paid I always got more money back than I gave so I always had more to shop with. When I got tired I asked if there was a hotel nearby so I could rest. Sure enough there was, the couch was quickly cleared of kitchen store goods and viola a hotel bed. I was brought the paper (flyer from the recycle bin) and had a restful stay. Kitchen store then evolved into hotel with beds set up on the stair landing in on the kitchen floor.