The imagination children have is a magical blessing. They create their own little worlds, which can be a total blessing during months when it’s hard to play outside.

Hide and seek is always a great option! You’re running around, laughing, plus there’s that scare factor that always gets them so excited.

My twins play hide and seek almost daily. They hide from each other or their older siblings, but their favorite thing to do is hide from me! The difference is I don’t always know when we are playing; they just love to jump out and scare me when I least expect it.

Sometimes though playing in the house, especially around the holidays, can cause a few problems.

A few days before last Christmas I was getting out of the shower and getting ready to go to a dinner with my children at my mother’s house. While I was in the room getting ready I heard a large crashing noise and someone yell Kelsie’s name and then all of my kids were chattering frantically about whatever it was that had happened. I rushed out to the living room and apparently during another game of hide and seek the twins decided Kelsie should hide in our Christmas tree and what else did I find but the tree splattered all over the hard wood floor. Bulbs were broken, the angel had fallen off the treetop, yet somehow the lights were still on. Some parents would probably yell and scream had they walked out into a mess of the sorts but I couldn’t help myself, I busted up laughing. They were just using their creative little imaginations and what kid wouldn’t try to hide in a tree?! We cleaned up the mess together had a nice sit down discussion about hide and seek in the house and they agreed to not climb things anymore during their games.

Our basement is a giant playroom so we utilize that often. My kids love to play school, so we went and purchased all kinds of fun school supplies. (Word to wise: the best time to go is right after school starts when they markdown everything!) The kids also have an assortment of puppets and games, and they even have enough room to ride little tricycles around on the carpet. An arts and crafts area is great if you  have the space. My oldest children, believe it or not are all about pretending to be teacher or principal with the twins. The give assignments to the twins in the little age appropriate workbooks we bought and then I have to sign them after the teacher grades them. They love to role play and I remember my friends and I doing this when we were young. It expands their imagination and creativity and they can still interact during play time with me and their siblings without causing accidents or worry.