![\"family](\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Family-Entertainments-Header-1.jpg\")
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The pandemic has canceled tons of activities, outings, and extracurriculars, leaving our calendars, including our familial ones, rather empty.<\/p>\n
Quarantining with kids in summer — when the sun doesn\u2019t set til late, the weather is warm, and you can spend your evenings doing things outside — is one thing. But quarantining in the cold and dark of winter? Woof. You get done with dinner, and then it\u2019s like . . . alright, now what?<\/span><\/p>\n Sure, you can watch a movie or pull something out of the board game cabinet, but you probably don\u2019t want everyone staring at a screen every night and you can only play The Floor Is Lava so many times.<\/span><\/p>\n If your family has been experiencing some pandemic-induced wintertime doldrums, below we present over 30 ideas for whiling away these long, dark nights. They have been selected and recommended based on the following criteria:<\/span><\/p>\n The McKay family has field-tested all of these ideas and given them our seal of approval. Some will keep your kid occupied for a fairly long time; others provide a short diversion and quick laugh. Some are one-and-done type things; others are games your kids will want to play night after night after night (sometimes to your chagrin!). Keep this list handy and pick a couple things each evening to try out and use to pass the time in some memorably interactive, full-bore wholesomeness. <\/span><\/p>\n This old camp game, passed down to us by Kate\u2019s father, has been a weirdly big hit in our household. It\u2019s akin to hot potato: you toss a ball around a circle while all singing the Wonder Ball song, and whoever has the ball in their hands when the last word of the song (\u201cout!\u201d) is warbled, is, well, out. Keep on doing rounds of it until only one person, the winner, is left standing.<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s how the song goes:<\/span><\/p>\n The Wonder Ball<\/span><\/em> In our house, we call the game \u201cWonder Toad\u201d because instead of using a ball, we use a big plushie of Toad from Mario Kart. Here’s the tune:\n
Wonder Ball Game<\/h3>\n
\nGoes round and round<\/span><\/em>
\nTo pass it quickly<\/span><\/em>
\nYou are bound<\/span><\/em>
\nIf you\u2019re the one<\/span><\/em>
\nTo hold it last<\/span><\/em>
\nThe game for you<\/span><\/em>
\nHas surely past<\/span><\/em>
\nYou<\/span><\/em>
\nAre<\/span><\/em>
\nOut!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
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