4 Games to Play With Kids While You’re Lying Down

This book was published after your post, but my sister recently received ‘Horizontal Parenting: How to Entertain Your Kid While Lying Down’ by Michelle Woo at her baby shower and it is hilarious. Perfect for this conversation thread :-)

The “What’s up on my butt?” game comes from my book, Weird Parenting Wins – via a brilliant mom named Maggie. So glad to see people are enjoying it. I’d love a credit in the post, Cup of Jo!

Me and my two year old daughter were playing pretending, wherein she’s the doctor and ofcourse i’m her patient so i can lay down all the way ?

I have brought my favourite game from the UK here to my niece and nephew here.
At UK children’s birthday parties we play Pass the Parcel and Musical Bumps and then we end with the best one, Sleeping Lions. All the kids lie face down on the floor and an adult (or generally a delegated older kid) walks around examining them… if any lion is loving then they are out!
Did not realise until I was an adult that this we just to make the kids slow down… and get half of them to take naps!

Our daughter is a teenager now, but when she was in early grade school we would play scavenger hunt so I could lay down and rest. I’d write up a full page of items for her to find, e.g. 12 red legos, six different colored hair ties, a cookbook with a specific recipe in it, etc. Not only did she take a long time to find everything, at the end she also had to formally present everything to me in order to confirm that she had accomplished her mission. This would usually give me 30 minutes at least.

Late to this party, but I love this post (how I wish I’d known about “what’s on my butt?” when my kids were younger!) and wanted to chime in for anyone who is reading through these for more ideas: my mom and my nephew once played an extended game of “let’s pretend to be animals” in which he was a monkey – and she was a sloth. She lay on the couch while he happily romped around her. They both loved it.

Ha! These are great! My kids are a bit older now but I remember drawing letters or numbers on their back with my finger and they’d try to guess! They loved ‘writing’ on my back too.

My kids and I play a game called “Whoever.” Whenever I tell my kids that I love them, they always try to convince me that they love me more. Someone starts the game by dramatically saying, “WHOEVER……..” and then finishes the phrase with something like, “…tickles the other person first loves them more!” We always wind up chasing each other around the house until someone wins. We all end up in fits of laughter, feeling very loved… :)

i love looking back at “games” from your childhood through adult eyes. my parents would have me and my sister “race” to put our pjs on. it completely eliminated the whining and fighting and we were both ready for bed in record time. pro tip: you got disqualified if your clothes didn’t wind up in the hamper.

My two year old just walks into the room pointing at us and says “lie down”. She then jumps on us. It’s very sore. However she loves it and I get to lie down. Win win :)

My sister and I invented the “santa game” and used to play it with all the kids we babysat – choose one kid to be santa, everyone else turns out the lights and lays on the couch or floor, “pretending” to sleep. Santa runs around the house picking out a toy to give to each person, then everyone wakes up excitedly, admires their toy, pick a new santa, repeat. This could go on for a while, especially if you add in some drama like someone waking up and catching santa.

This is probably my greatest idea to date. Although it originated during the holiday season, it is no less thrilling in the middle of summer!

My dad invented “Bear Trap,” where he would lie on his back or stomach, arms splayed out, as the trap. We would march around him, inching closer and closer until he occasionally snapped his hands or legs together to catch us in the trap! We must have played for hours and he got to basically nap while we giggled. Genius.

Myself and my two boys spend about 20 minutes every evening on my bed discussing our days, something we have done for years. They will usually do tumbles or we throw a stuffed toy back and forth, and on Fridays we look at funny pictures and videos on Instagram, but the whole time I’m just lying back against the headboard relaxing. It’s the perfect way to close the day, and get all the school gossip! I’m definitely going to incorporate “What’s on my butt?” this evening! LOL.

hahahahahaha, brilliant. A mother does what she has to do! Right Jean?
It may not be a game but one of my rules at home is an asking question prohibition from dinner and on,…I´m not able to even speak by then ;-).

When my twin daughters were little, I would legit play fetch with them. I would sit on the floor with my back against the couch and throw a ball into the dining room. They would get the ball and run around the table however many times I called. Sometimes pretending to be a dog, or a cat, or a duck, pig, horse, whatever! The game went on until they were as tired as I was! The first time my husband witnessed this he said, “Are you playing fetch with our children? That’s amazing!!!”

So many good and funny suggestions! When pregnant with my 2nd I was bone tired and came up with “Mama Mountain” in which I would cover myself in a blanket (including my head!) on the couch and my then 3 year old energizer bunny would alternately ski or snowboard his legos or other toys around OR drive his cars and trains all over the mountain. We also played “Rocket Ship” in which you had to lie completely under a blanket (your rocket) on the couch or even better, the bed, and he would have to pack everything for our trip in the rocket and then drive us around space where I would send him off on exploring missions while I waited in the rocket. He would spend forever playing both of these games and I was able to get actual naps in wherein I just had to mumble answers to him occasionally. He still asks to play these games often which is a win for me!

Oh gosh, paying a kid to stay quiet works exactly once…and then they start bargaining with you! When my youngest sister was about 5, she just would. not. stop. chattering. for the entire drive back home from the beach (about 45 minutes). Our dad bribed her with $1 and it worked perfectly! But the next time he tried it, little sis countered with “how much are you gonna pay me this time?” Guess the going rate for peace and quiet is not subject to inflation!

(P.S. my sister also reads this blog so there’s a decent chance she’ll see this story and offer something equally embarrassing about me.)

I remember crawling into bed with my mom in the mornings and wanting her to talk and play. Eventually, she came up with “Hanny”, which was literally her balled up fist stuck out of the covers that was my baby to feed and talk to. I have a feeling that Hanny will be making a comeback for my children.

As my family of nine siblings grew, adding spouses and grandkids, our family gatherings got large and loud. When we were all ready for some “quiet” time, my husband created the game “Coma”. The kids would lay on the floor in silence. Up to as many 20 kids would spread out on the floor and as they made a noise, they were out. During a really good game, some would even fall asleep. It was a game played for many years, many holiday get togethers.

Best post ever.