Guess what's behind my back?

What began as a simple show & tell about his souvenir flag soon turned into a good couple hours of guessing what my best friend's little boy had behind his back. While we were waiting he came to show me the flag he'd been given at the ANZAC Day parade that morning.

Him: Guess what's behind my back?
Me: Ummmmm, is a pirate hat?
Him: Nooooo, don't be silly.
Me: OK. Is it a peanut?
Him: Nooooo (laughing).
Me: Is it big or little?
Him: It's kind of big.
Me: So is it a dinosaur?
Him: Noooo, not THAT big.
Me: Is it an ant?
Him: Noooo, not that little. In between.
Me: Is it an animal?
Him: No, it's something.
Me: What colour is it?
Him: It's blue, with white and red. And it has stars.
Me: Ohhhhhh, I know. It's the American Flag!
Him: YES! How did you guess?
Me: Just clever I guess. (laughing).
Me: Oh but wait, that's not the American Flag. That's the Australian Flag. You know, we live in Australia, and America has a flag too, but it's different.
Him: Oh. Like my Foo Fighters Flag.
Me: (hilarious laughter at a 4 year old). Yes, just like that!

So next thing I know, he's back with something else behind his back! Then 3 things. Then 5 things. Then a tin (oh sorry, a suitcase) full of things!

An hour or two later I've managed to guess a tiger, a pig, a car, Lighting McQueen, a ring, a police in the shape of a police helmet, a flute made out of straws at kinder, an elephant from Thailand and a whole bunch of things I can't even remember, and some that I even had to cheat and guess thanks to Google on my smart phone.

But while we were having fun, mucking about, having a laugh, we were learning!

Learning new words, learning to describe things without saying what it is, learning beginning and rhyming sounds (what does it sound like.....it starts with aaaallllll....alex the lion!), learning colours & shades, big & small, what things feel like, what they sound like, what they can & can't do. Learning about animals, countries and cities. Learning to think laterally and be creative and learning to communicate.

WOW! Who would've thought you could learn so much from a simple made up kids game?

So next time you do something fun that the kids enjoy, and they keep coming back, and back, and back....before you get tired of the game, have a quick think about what they could be learning from this and keep it going while you've got the chance.

Happy Learning!

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