Sesame Street Activity of the Week: Play Games Over Video Chat
By Rosemarie Truglio, PhD. Senior Vice President, Curriculum & Content, Sesame Workshop
Video chat is a great way to stay connected to family and friends when you can’t see them in person. It’s sometimes hard for young children to stay engaged in a conversation over the screen, but playing games together make the experience more exciting and fun. Here are some game ideas that kids can play with friends and family on video chat.
Guess What’s in the Can
- In this game, players have to guess what the person you’re video chatting with is holding just below their screen.
- One player finds an item in the house. It can be anything — a spoon, a stuffed animal, a smelly sock, and holds it just off screen.
- The other players have to guess what it is, by asking questions. “Is it something you eat with? Sleep with?” “Does it have fur?” See if you can guess in less than 20 questions!
Play Screen Scopes
- In this game, one player have to guess what object the other player is looking at on the their screen behind them.
- One player starts by looking at the background of the other player’s screen, and picking out an object. Then they say, “In your screen, I scope something…” (Blue, round, can be anything). The other player has to figure out what they are looking at behind them. Now switch!
To find more activities to do together during this time, you can download our free app, Sesame Street Family Play (available on iOS and Android). Choose from three categories: Keep Busy, Move Your Body, and Calm Down, then tell the app where you are at home (kitchen, backyard, video chat, etc..), how many kids are playing, and what’s around you (Socks? A banana?), and Sesame Street Family Play will deliver a fun game to play with your kids.
Related Resources
These are stressful days for families everywhere, and Sesame Workshop is here to help. With 50 years’ experience in early childhood education and in helping children and their caregivers face challenging times, we’ve created an online hub of resources that parents can use at home to spark playful learning, offer children comfort, and focus a bit on self-care, too. Each week, as we roll out new content, a Sesame Workshop early childhood development expert will contribute a column here with strategies to help families find ways to breathe, laugh, and play together.
