Miscellany: Waiting Room Games

The waiting room of an ICU can be a rough place for a kid. While visiting and looking after Grandma, we had to spend many hours alone in there, all with several children under 10 years old. Here's some of the activities I came up with to pass the time:

1) The Category Game - A simple little exercise that you've probably played under a different name. One side comes up with a category ("Name 10 fruits") and the other side races to name things in the category as fast as possible. Best if someone has a watch.

2) Bocce Shoe - A variation of standard bocce, using shoes. Competitors throw their shoes towards a designated target approximately 10-15 yards away - closest wins. You can use the second shoe to collide with your opponents' efforts. Obviously not a game for confined or crowded spaces.

3) Cellphone Musical Chairs - Musical chairs is usually not a game that you could play impromptu, but the advent of cellphone ringtones has changed that. Using your ringtone list as a repository of songs, have the contestants play musical chairs - when the music stops, whoever's left standing is out.