Dots and Squares and Sprouts are two games in my ‘waiting time’ arsenal (at least, when I have access to paper and a pencil.) What are some of yours?
Oh, don’t know what Sprouts is? It’s another paper game I used to play as a child. Of course, I’m not sure why it’s called that…
- First, make dots all over a piece of paper. They don’t have to be in a neat grid like in Dots and Squares, just random.
- Take turns drawing lines between the dots, making a dot on the center of each line after it is drawn. The lines do not have to be straight, since there is no grid, and can curve and loop around, but they can’t cross another line.
- Each dot may have only three lines connecting to it. Remember, the lines don’t have to be straight.
- The last person to draw a line wins!
This paper and pencil game is a little more complex than Dots and Squares, so its probably better for a little bit older children, or preschoolers that can understand the instructions, since they’re a little more complex than just drawing a line. It still works on many of the same skills; coordination, pencil grip, processes.
Recently I’ve pulled out both of these games for the kids and I while we had to wait for something. They were equally interested in both, but Sprouts did take a little more explaining as we were playing the game.
So, what other paper games should I add to my arsenal? Any ideas?
I played Dots and Squares growing up as well and have taught my daughters but I've never heard of Sprouts. I'm eager to try it with my girls since my eldest gets upset when I make too many Squares in the other one and Sprouts doesn't have a winner until the end.
I like this game…sort of 'freestyle'! The boys like making the squiggles and seeing how far they can make their lines go!