My kids exhausted after playing fetch | photo by Alex Cave
There’s a scene in the movie Knocked Up in which the parents mock the “clueless bachelor” for playing fetch with the kids (around min 1:45 in this preview for those with no patience). Well, screw that; there’s no shame in inventing games that get children to chase things that are tossed for them. Little people need to run off their ya-yas, after all.
I don’t mind playing Frisbee with my children in theory, but if when they throw poorly, I don’t want to deal with it. Know what I mean? Here are my tried and true methods for revving their engines rather than mine.
- Our favorite: Stomp Rockets have been our standard for six years now! I suggest you spring for the extra refills and keep them in the front closet or car trunk. Always.
- Grandma’s go-to: Whitney’s mom keeps a few of these Skyrocopters handy. She shoots them off with the kids in the front yard and they love it.
- Down under: Try a boomerang toy and, if you master the skill, nobody needs to run. But it’ll take years for that to happen. In the meantime, practice with this soft indoor boomerang to hone your skills.
- A new spin: This flash flyer launches a flexible round disc that is *capable* of flying far distances and returning exactly from where it was launched. Heh. Just like with a traditional boomerang, y’all are gonna need some practice.
- Old school: Pick up a wiffle ball and bat so the parent can hit the baseball while kid fields it over and over. Or play catch.
- New kid on the block: The wacky-looking SkyTrix Radical Glider is part yo-yo and part glider toy. As long as I can chuck it and my kids can chase it, I’ll give it a try.
Bonus entry: I’m going to assume that most rookie families are not going to take the time to build this, but it’s flipping fantastic! We all love to launch compressed-air rockets and it really draws a crowd at the park as it shoots 200 to 300 feet into the air. RookieDad Alec build the launcher from a kit, and the paper rockets are all homemade. Sawyer usually pushes the ignition button while the big boys go crazy trying to catch the projectiles before they hit the ground.
Here’s a 17 second shaky cam video of our inaugural run.
How do you play fetch with your littles?
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