Two Games that Have Made Summer Fun

This summer, I have spent a lot of "down" time with my kids.  Two games that have really made the summer fun are Speed Scrabble and 12 Eggs.  Here's an explanation of both games:

Speed Scrabble

It is best to have at least 3 players and six is the max.

You use the scrabble tiles.  

All of them are put in the center of table, face down.  Everyone takes seven tiles and leaves them face down until someone shouts go.  Everyone then tries to form their own miniature scrabble board, using all of their letters.  Once someone has done that, they holler "Draw" and everyone draws another tile.  This goes on until all of the tiles in the center are used.  During the game, you can recreate your scrabble board as often as you wish to make best use of your tiles.  

Once the game is over, everyone adds up their words and if you want to, you can subtract the tiles you couldn't use.  It is fast and intense and I have noticed my kid's vocabulary and spelling leap this summer because of this game.    

12 Eggs

Dentist husband and his brother invented this game years ago.

You can play this with any ball, but we prefer one the size of a tennis ball.  Everyone starts with 12 eggs.  (These are figurative eggs and are just used as a way to keep score.)  You play catch, trying to throw the ball that will be hard for the other person to catch.  If they drop the ball, they loose an egg.  (Usually, the person yells, "I'm down to 11" or whatever number they are on).  However, if you throw a ball that is deemed by the other players as being "uncatchable" you loose an egg.  You are always riding the fine line of throwing a hard to catch ball and one that is "uncatchable."  Last person with eggs wins.  

We have played this game almost nightly this summer with people from our home teachers, to neighborhood kids to the Cub Scouts.  It is a great game and only requires a somewhat open space and a ball.