These weeks we will have to stay at home with our children for many days and it can be hard. From Dr. Consuelo Badía's surgery we would like to encourage you to play a game with them that will allow you to entertain both them and yourselves.
It is very easy to do, all you need is some space in your living room, some sheets of paper, colours and pencils. It can be played by adults and children of all ages. The basis of the game is very simple: you are going to invent a story in which they make the decisions, progressing through it depending on what they choose. They will have to draw their characterYou name it, talk and interpret everything you do as if it were a theatre performance. You improvise as you go along.
A good idea is to use these days of confinement to invent something that includes a grotto and its exploration, so that you use the feeling they already have of being cut off from the world to your advantage.
William Crowther, father of two daughters, a keen cavern explorer and computer scientist, divorced his wife. Crowther loved to read bedtime stories to his girls. As he could no longer be around them, he created a video game for them in 1976 that was a conversational adventure game. They would type in their choices and the computer would respond in their father's voice. You can take this game as inspiration (you can try it here). You can also take inspiration from the game's adventure map to create one yourself to play with your children.
Map of Colossal Cave Adventure for inspiration
But it is an even better idea if your own children draw the map while you ask them: there is a door on the left and on the right, which one do you open? But let's go step by step.
What interactive story shall I tell you?
Think of a simple story. We invite you to use a Lord of the Rings-type plot: your child or children have to carry a very important magical object from one place on the map to another. You will ask them questions: do you go right or do you go left? They will draw a map with what they find and you tell them what you find.
And what do they find?
Here you will have to draw on ideas from their favourite cartoon series, your own and situations from films you have seen. As we don't want them to fight against other characters, the encounters can be solved by solving riddles posed by those they meet. Here is a very good website for this purpose.
If you guess correctly, they can get an object or a key that they have to draw. At other times, instead of a riddle you can introduce popular games, questions drawn from their class exercises or use portions of popular board games.the possibilities are endless!
How to start
The first thing is to set out the situation: "we have been isolated in the caves of Ziving and we have to bring this magic tooth to the end to escape"; for example. They have to invent their explorers, name them, invent their past and have a map ready to draw on. This game is infinite, it serves to add a narrative to the rest of the games and will facilitate many conversations with your son or daughter to get to know them better. Because in family, confinement doesn't have to be boring ;).
Lots of encouragement during these days!#YoMeQuedoMeQuedoEnCasa
