Roly Poly Guacamole: An Anytime Game for Vestibular and Tacile Input (with Lots of Giggles!)

NOTE: Please excuse the "realness" of the photos included in this post, fuzzy shots in which I am wearing Great-Grammy's old housedress and sporitng crazy hair.  These photos were taken for us to remember a fun night, but, when I reviewed them, I decided that the game was too fun not to share. 

 
Roly Poly...
Roly Poly...
Roly Poly...
Guacamole!

This simple game is a great one for tactile and vestibular input, as well as for inciting lots of giggles.

Basically, one person lays atop another (or, in the case of our family, a dollie can lay atop a kid, too.)

The person on the bottom cradles the back of the person on the top’s head in hands for extra protection.
 

Hands here?  No.

How about here? No!

How about here?  YES!

Then, the players rock from side-to-side-to-side-to-side while chanting, “Roly poly, roly poly, roly poly, roly poly...”

Finally, the player on the bottom flips the player on the top over to the floor, but, for safety’s sake, tries not to lay on the now-“bottom” player, but rather uses arms to support a little “safety space” or lands just to the side of the player.

Then, with giggled begging, play happens again with the direction of the roll changing during different rounds. Sometimes to the left. Sometimes to the right.

Silly? Yes! Fun? Definitely! A great little game that can be played almost anywhere anytime (as long as there is floor or lawn space) to feed a sensory diet or just to induce giggles? Absolutely!

How did we add the game to our family repertoire?

A few weeks ago, we had a “free Saturday”. That is a day when we did not have outside commitments on the calendar, so Mike entertained the kids with some Daddy time while I attended to some overdo paperwork and attacked home purging and organizing.

As I often do when I am alone, I spent time listening to faith-based audio CD’s and free personal development and parenting interviews online to keep my mind as busy as my hands were while I worked. Among what I listened to were replays on The Great Parenting Show (GPS), a program where Jacqueline Green seeks “to empower parents to become or remain the great parent they want to be, by connecting them to the right parenting expert for their unique situation.” (For the record: I love GPS and think what Jacqueline does on it is awesome, especially since she always reminds people to take what resonates with them and to leave the rest. In all honesty, a few of the guests interviewed by Jacqueline on GPS do not speak to me at all. However, many offer a useful tip or two and some seem hand-picked for me!)

Unfortunately, I cannot recall which of the GPS guests that I listened to the day the kids and I started playing Roly Poly Guacamole mentioned the game, but I am grateful that one did. For despite having been active with Daddy all day, my children were whack-o just before bedtime and needed some guided “rough play”. Recalling the mention of Roly Poly Guacamole on GPS earlier in the day, a new (to us!) game was born. I got the kids down on the floor, modeled how to play Roly Poly Guacamole with a few added safety precautions and let the giggling (and then the settling in for the night!) begin...

Have you added any silly games or sensory activities to your family's repertoire lately?