We are studying the American colonial period in history right now.

I know. Every homeschooler knows the colonial period of history inside and out.

Except us.

We usually skip from Christopher Columbus right into the American Revolution because we love the characters and stories of the Revolution.

So I figured it was time to learn at least a bit about colonial times.

We are having such a great time! Today we were trying out some of the games that the children of colonial times played.

The first game we tried was one in which a person spins a metal or wooden plate on its side, calls out the name of another person who must catch the plate before it falls.

We gave up after five minutes. Everyone caught the plate before it fell. There was no challenge. Those colonial people knew something we didn't.

While trying to figure out how to make it more challenging, we invented a game that was definitely more fun.

We wadded up a sheet of paper into a ball. Then each of us grabbed a plastic lid from the pantry. Some of the lids were quite large, others medium sized, one very small. Some of the lids has lipped edges, and some were flat.

Then we stood in a circle, and without ever allowing our hands to touch the ball, we threw the ball and caught the ball with the plastic lids.

Oh, we laughed so hard! You couldn't use your hands, but you could use your head or your eyeglasses or your tummy or your elbows or any other part of you body to catch and make that paper ball stay on your lid.

We looked ridiculous!

A silly game, really. No points. No skill.

But we laughed enough to last us until bedtime. What fun!

There is a game that the colonial people played that I'm sure will be fun. It's called Deer and Hunter. You blindfold two people. Set them on opposite sides of the dining table. Pull all the benches and chairs out of the way. Then the Hunter needs to tag the Deer. Everyone in the room must be very quiet because the Deer and Hunter are going to be trying to hear each other in order to catch or stay away. Oh, and if there is no carpet, everyone must be out of their shoes.

I want to play this one with Tim. He's so competitive, but I'm wiley and cunning. And we have a very wide 8' long table. This definitely sounds like a good one.

I hate board games, but I love parlor games.