Chol Hamoed ideas on lockdown

amother

Olive

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 8:39 am

amother [ Babyblue ] wrote:

Colorwar with the extended family on zoom

Don't forget to include the grandparents! Says a young bubby

amother

Brunette

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 8:47 am

Not following! Every day is color war here- I need to come up with things to do every day!
escape sounds nice though

southernbubby

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 8:57 am

Most of my grandchildren like Monopoly, Ticket to Ride, Old Maid and the like and would be thrilled if an adult would spend hours playing it with them.
I don't know, however, if you can get it before Pesach unless there is a time during the day where Target is safe to enter. If you own board games, clean them for Pesach.

amother

Maroon

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 9:14 am

1500-2000 piece Puzzles for teens and young adults.

chocolate moose

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 1:10 pm

One day is Shabbos and one day is erev Yomtov so it's not a lot of chol hamoed this year

Amelia Bedelia

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 1:18 pm

seeker wrote:

You can also buy an escape-room-in-a-box. They're not terribly expensive and can be a lot of fun at home!

Any specific links you'd recommend?

I heard that there's also an app that you use to set one up in your own home. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

southernbubby

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 1:22 pm

Bowling with the empty seltzer bottles?

amother

Ruby

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 1:54 pm

Connecticut state parks are still open unless they have narrow trails that don't allow for social distancing.

Chayalle

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 3:05 pm

sky wrote:

I was thinking to do a canvas paint session. Find a tutorial and buy paint supplies
You can also decorate mugs or bowls with oils sharpies. And then have new pesach dishes.

It will be very hard

We did this one day of Chanuka. Try to get some scenic pictures to copy. We really impressed ourselves, and it was really fun and relaxing.

Chayalle

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 3:06 pm

seeker wrote:

AYLOR but these activities can be halachically questionable on chol hamoed, especially with participants over bar/bat mitzvah.

We asked our LOR in the past and he said as long as you are not a professional it's not a problem.

PinkFridge

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 3:14 pm

chocolate moose wrote:

One day is Shabbos and one day is erev Yomtov so it's not a lot of chol hamoed this year

Hi!

seeker

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 5:05 pm

We had a lot of fun with this one, and it has 4 games in it so you get a lot of use out of it:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod.....9e903
They also sell add-on extra games but I didn't try those yet. I found the original 4 to be a good level of challenging and entertaining for a mixed crowd of tweens to adults. There were enough pieces and stuff for everyone to get involved. The hints were OK. The system of checking codes by putting keys into the machine is pretty cool and worked well for us (although some reviews said theirs was glitchy.)

We also did this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod.....8017f
Compared to the other, we found it pretty tame and not as exciting. It was still fun though. And it was very easy to put back together and pass on to others to use. Probably a better pick for people who are not such experienced escape room aficionados. My family has high standards. We love a dare, and many of us also love the kind of challenge that gets your heart racing and your team panicking, and those who don't love that often find themselves wishing they were born into a different family and tend to sit out the escape games.

This brand makes some really truly great ones and some eh. Link is to one we loved.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod.....18a55
They all work with a similar system where the clues are on lettered cards and answers are on numbered cards, a little hard to explain but once you get it, you are good to go for all their games. We love that their puzzles are often very creative and different. The good ones have hints in unexpected places... The price is great for entry level but be aware that the games are not reusable, you often have to destroy materials in order to solve, so get everyone together. I also found that it took a little more effort with these to make teamwork work, we had to actively make sure everyone got included and took turns to contribute, rather than the others where it seemed more organic. I played one of these by myself once and enjoyed it as a puzzle, though I did miss the camaraderie a little, and definitely having more minds working on the puzzles in the more challenging games was a big help.

sky

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 5:20 pm

seeker wrote:

How accurate are the ages. Like if it says 12+ can 9 yr olds do it?

seeker

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 6:43 pm

Depends on the kid. If they're naturally good at this stuff, then yes. If they're not so into puzzles and mysteries, maybe not so much. Depends who else is working on it with them, too. Like I would do one with my 9 year old, but I'd probably be doing a lot of intentionally letting her feel like she's the one doing it... know what I mean?

Sleepymama

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 6:43 pm

Someone just posted on a WhatsApp group: "We're not letting the kids out on the porch, because we're saving it for a chol hamoed trip"
Really made me lol

amother

Indigo

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 10:52 pm

we did a scavenger hunt with extended family on zoom. it was fun

southernbubby

Mon, Mar 23 2020, 11:40 pm

Remember the good old days when chol ha moed fun cost a fortune? Even going bowling with a big family really costs. The best deal was The Discovery Museum in Bridgeport CT.
Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end....
Oh well, better luck with Succos.

amother

Cobalt

Tue, Mar 24 2020, 1:06 am

Not sure if my 72 year old mother will be able to join us for seders (even though she lives down the block) so we though maybe we will do a "mock seder" over Zoom during Chol Hamoed...basically all the songs she loves and other parts that make it fun for her. Hopefully this will help with the disappointment of not joining us.

We'll probably play a lot of games, watch movies

amother

Blue

Tue, Mar 24 2020, 1:16 am

southernbubby wrote:

I just ordered the supplies to make a paint party for the family. Somehow it cost me over $100. Enough for 8 projects + 8 additional free paint canvases.
Still not free.

little neshamala

Tue, Mar 24 2020, 7:24 am

Going to be another nudgy voice here for everyone to ask their own Rav if its ok to paint pottery or canvas. Unfortunately, my Rav said its not allowed, even if we're not professionals.
So before you load up your cart, ask!