One of Evie and Lucy's favorite games is a game we call guess-that-animal. One of us thinks of an animal and then can only answer yes or no to questions about the animal. The girls have gotten fairly efficient at guessing--Is it bigger than a cat? Does it live in the ocean? Does it have fur?--and better at thinking of more exotic animals, although Evie, who carries around her Guide to Colorado Birds on every camping trip, is banned from thinking of any birds after stumping us with a double-crested cormorant and marbled godwit.
Noni usually sits and listens to us as we play, but today at lunch she asked me if I wanted to play guess-that-animal with her. Only she had a slightly different take on the game.
Me: ....
Noni: So guess!
Me: An elephant?
Noni: No! You can't guess for it like that!
Me: Okay, a monkey?
Noni (smiling): No
Me: A llama?
Noni: No
Me: An elephant!
Noni: That's right! You got it!
Noni: That's right! You got it!
We then took turns "guessing" each other's animal, but always had to let the other person know up front which animal we were thinking about.
As we played, I had to resist the urge to tell Noni that her version didn't make sense. I realized that really it just didn't make sense to me. I thought back to a day at the reservoir a couple of weeks ago. Noni and her friend Ami decided to play hide-and-seek. Ami counted first and I helped Noni to hide under the towel. To her delight, Ami immediately found her. Then it was Noni's turn to count and Ami, of course, hid under the towel again. This went on for several turns until I asked the girls if they wouldn't like to mix it up a bit and hide somewhere different. Noni looked at me like I was crazy and probably would have rolled her eyes if she knew how. Then she and Ami looked at each other and both yelled "No!" at the same time. They were perfectly happy with their own version of the game.
At three, Noni is in discovery mode all day long. Just today, she has asked me why apples have skin, how to get up a really tall mountain, and why she has to wash her hands before lunch. The games she's playing, whether hide-and-seek or guess-that-animal, are new enough to her as it is without needing to add the element of surprise that older children enjoy. And so, without judgement, I'm off to play another game of guess-that-animal with Noni. By the way, I'm thinking of a bear.
6 comments:
Me: A bear!
(am I right?)
This morning I fought the urge to explain knock-knock jokes to Ella. She hasn't yet figured out that there's supposed to be a clever tie-in between the "who's there?" and the final answer. To be honest, I will miss these days. I so wish she would stay little.
xx meg
reminds me of trying to understand glenn beck.
i'm a bear then i'm a tiger
Great post. Can't wait to see you this weekend and play the game. I'm thinking of a Kangaroo
That is priceless My favorite was always hide and seek when either Jasper or Hugo would just stand still and shut their eyes, thinking no one could see them. Over and over. I love your insight!
that is so sweet! And that picture of her?! Oh my heart! I miss that girl (and all of you, but Noni!!!)
Ethan still plays hide and seek like that and it cracks me up so much that even if he didn't TELL me where to hide, he'd be able to hear me laughing in my "hiding" spot.
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