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Hey everyone, and welcome back to We are the Hansens.
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I am so glad you are here with me today
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for a fun, light hearted episode. Life with a big
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family can be chaotic and messy, loud, and definitely unpredictable.
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But one thing we've learned over the years is that
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when you've got this many people under one room, the
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best memories often come from the simplest things. Today, I
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want to talk about one of my favorite parts of
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being in a big family, the made up games we've
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invented over the years. These games are usually spontaneous, often hilarious,
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and they become such a natural part of our family
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rhythm that I sometimes forget other families don't play them too.
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So if you've ever looked around your house, saw your
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kid's board or bouncing off walls, and thought we need
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something to do, I hope this episode inspires you. Who
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needs board games or screens when you've got creativity. Let's
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dive into some of our favorite original handsen household games.
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The first game I want to share with you guys
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is the Alphabet Animal game. That has always been a
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big game for us because on our traveling when we're
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in the car and the kids are very bored because
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we're traveling a long distance. This is a classic. We've
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played it in the car, while waiting at appointments, or
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even while cooking dinner together. It's simple and perfect for
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all ages. Here's how it works. Each person gets a turn,
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going in order of the alphabet A through Z, and
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has to name one animal that starts with the letter
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they get, so, for example, a alligator, B, bear, C, cheetah, D, dolphin,
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and so on. Sometimes we add a twist, like making
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it a rapid fire challenge where you only have three
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seconds to respond. If you can't think of an animal
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in time, you're out last person standing wins. Other times
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we had a silly rule like you have to make
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us sound the animal makes or act like it. You
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haven't lived until you've seen a room full of kids
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and adults pretending to be kangaroos and zebras, trust me.
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And the best part everyone learns new animals. Someone will
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throw out coca or ibex and everyone will stop like
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wait is that real? Boom? Learning and laughing at the
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same time. It's so fun, so fun, And usually when
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we're on long trips the kids that is the first
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game they choose to play. Okay, I know the floor
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is lava isn't unique to us, but we added our
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own spin. In our version, will suddenly yell color lava
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and shout out a color instead of just saying the
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floor like blue is lava, and everyone has five seconds
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to touch something that's not blue. If you're touching blue,
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you're out. We've even done emotion lava. You have to
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pretend to feel a certain emotion or you're out. It's
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like charades meets hot potato meets full blown chaos. It
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is so fun. Mystery spoons. This one started totally by accident.
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One night at dinner. We were trying to get everyone
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to quiet down and finish their food, so we made
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up mystery spoons. One person holds a spoon and pretends
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to have a secret. They go around the table and
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whisper to each person what they think the secret is,
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but they're just making it up. Then everyone has to
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guess what the original mystery was, even though there never
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was one. It always ends in total silliness, weird guesses,
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and belly laughter. Sometimes the mystery is Uncle Dave's missing sock,
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or the spaghetti monster lives under the table. It's perfect
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when you just need a laugh and connect after a
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long day. The next one is sock Wars. This one's
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a handsome exclusive. Each person gets two rolled up socks,
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clean preferably. We clear the living room of breakaballs and
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the goal is simple dodge, duck and don't get hit.
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There's only one rule, no throwing at faces, but everything
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else fair game. We usually set a timer for ten minutes.
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At the end, whoever hasn't been hit wins. It's like
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picking the next movie or choosing dessert. It's like Dodgeball,
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but cozy. We also play the license Plate game. Each
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child in the vehicle has to find a license plate
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in alphabetical order. It is definitely hard. We also play
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in the car I Spy, and you gotta be quick
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because if they say I spy something green and you
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passed it already, you're out of luck. So you got
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to be very quick when you play I Spy in
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the car. The next game is Soundtrack Stories. This one
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is great for older kids or when you're winding down
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before button instrumental music, movie scenes, dramatic orchestra pieces, even
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video game soundtracks, and one person has to tell a
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story inspired by the music. It could be about a dragon,
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a spy, a trip to outer space, whatever the music
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feels like. Some of the most creative and emotional storytelling
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comes out during the game, and sometimes the younger kids
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just say silly stuff like a unicorn trip on a
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banana peel and fell into space, And honestly, it's beautiful
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every time. It is so fun. The next one is
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kitchen karaoke judge. This one is one of my favorites.
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This one is my favorite when doing dishes or cooking dinner,
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one person sings while someone else is the judge. But
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here's the twist. The judge has to give feedback in
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a ridiculous accent or using only animal sounds. It's part performance,
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part comedy routine, and all ridiculous fun. Sometimes the judge
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will say stuff like your pitch reminded me of a
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hauling goat stuck in a dishwasher. Ten out of ten.
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We don't even care if someone can't sing. It's all
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about putting on a show, laughing at ourselves and making
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chores more fun. You know, in a world where kids
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are growing up faster and screens are everywhere, I love
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that we've carved out this little world of imagination and connection.
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These games are games remind me that fun doesn't have
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to be fancy, It just has to be shared. And
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let me tell you, our family can have a good
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game of just stuff we make up. We come up
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with some of the best When we play these games.
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We're not just passing time. We're also bonding. We're letting
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go of stress, and we're seeing each other, we're laughing,
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and we're building the kind of memories I hope our
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kids will carry on forever. I hope their kids carry
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these games on forever. Someday when they're grown. I hope
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they say, remember sock Wars, or remember when Dad pretended
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to be a British goat judge for kitchen karaoke and
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just laugh all over again. That is going to be
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a memory that lasts forever. These games we can play
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over and over and they never get boring because each
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game is made up and we can add our own rules,
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we can add things to them, we can take things
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away from them, and it's not going to destroy the game.
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It's going to make it more interesting for our children.
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And our kids get to help make up different things
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to put in. The ten second rule, the five second rule,
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the two second rule. It's all in fun and the
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noises that come out of the kids's mouth when they're
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trying to pretend they're animals for our animal games. That
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is the most fun thing ever. And I know this
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isn't a made up game, but we kind of made
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it up in our own way. We play the game
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Bimboozled and that's where you have disgusting jelly beans mixed
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with yummy jelly beans. And we've played it so much
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the last couple weekends and we've actually invited friends over
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to play, our neighbors over to play. It is just
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a game that is fun for everyone. Granted it can
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be pretty disgusting at times, but we have made up
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where you can add two jelly beans and you get
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more points if you do double the jelly bean. And
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it could be rubber tire with vomit, it could be anything.
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And you have to put both jelly beans in your
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mouth at once and you have to be able to
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swallow them not spit them out. If you can swallow them,
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you get more points. Whoever ends up with the most
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points at the end, they're the winners. And let me
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tell you, guys, these kids love it. Even though the
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jelly beans are gross, they enjoy laughing while watching the
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other players gag on nasty jelly beans if they get
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a nasty one. And so we make up our own
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rules to the game as we go, so not always
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is it the same. Every time we make up different things.
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We also play charades where one person gets up there
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and they have to act out something and if somebody
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can't guess, the team that's guessing doesn't guess it, they
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have to eat a bad jelly bean. So it's kind
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of fun and the kids really really enjoy it. So
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if you're listening and thinking, my family doesn't really do
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this stuff, start small. Try the Alphabet Animal Game tonight.
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It's easy, free and guaranteed to bring some laughs to
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your family. And if you're already making up your own
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silly games, keep it up. What the weirdness and joy shine,
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that's where the magic lives. Thanks for hanging out with
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me today on We Are the Hansens. I'd love to
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hear about your family's made up games, so send me
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a message on our We Are the Hanson's Facebook or
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you can send me an email at We Are thee
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Hanson's Show at gmail dot com and please go and
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subscribe to our We are the Hansen's YouTube channel. Until
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next time, stay silly, stay strong, and keep making memories
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lack define and definite