Life is about solutions. What clothes to wear? How much gas to put in the car? HOW DO I GET THESE TWO KIDS TO STOP BOTHING ME WHILE I GET THEIR DINNER READY SO HELP ME GOD!!!??? Often times that answer is a streaming service of some kind to fill in the space. Is that right though?
How to keep my kids busy at home?
There are many solutions to keeping kids busy. You can give them chores, coloring books, small tasks they need to complete, games, challenges, video games, crafts that you have started, puzzles, and TV. You need to consider how long the kids need to stay busy for and what you prefer they do. You also need to consider if you want them to have screen time or not.
For my wife and I, we have an added challenge of having two kids with a considerable age gap which makes it even more challenging to keep them both busy and happy so we can take care of what we need to take care of. Luckily we don’t have to worry about them being home alone during vacation but that is an added stress of keeping kids occupied and for longer stretches of time. Luckily for us we discovered a fun and intuitive game (I guess discovered isn’t the correct word considering it’s been out for so long) that will help keep the kids busy for a while.
Yeti In My Spaghetti is a fun and intuitive game from PlayMonster that is fun and easy to grasp for any child over 4 years old.
There are a few rules with the most important two being:
- If you touch a noodle, then that is the one you must remove.
- You may use both hands to remove the noodle, but you can only use one hand at a time.
The long list of rules for Yeti In My Spaghetti is not difficult to follow:
- The oldest player goes first.
- If you touch a noodle, you remove that noodle.
- You may use both hands but only one at a time.
- If you remove a noodle and the Yeti doesn’t fall all the way to the bottom, the game is still on.
- If the Yeti falls to the bottom of the bowl during your turn or immediately after, the game is over.
How do you win Yeti In My Spaghetti?
Winning is very simple and straightforward. Whoever last successfully removed a noodle, wins. Inside the box there is everything you need to play including the bowl, noodles, and Yeti.
Our review:
What a fun game! My kids are 5 and 13 so it’s difficult to find a product that they can both play and this one does so nicely. The play style is intuitive enough that my kids were able to pull it out and play without any prompting or explanation. The rules are also basic enough that the game lends itself to whatever house rules you want to come up with which is a brilliant piece of the design. One of our own personal house rules is that if you drop a spaghetti in the bowl, you have to take your next turn on one foot. My 5 year old absolutely loved it and the 13 year old enjoyed the challenge as well. It also gives mom and dad a chance to show off and get some laughs if they are also able to play. All in all this game is perfect if you need a few minutes of an activity that keeps the kids engaged. A deeper bowl if you have one isn’t a bad idea either as it’s a bit more fun to have a deep drop for the Yeti.
Other things to consider:
- The noodles are quite long so it isn’t recommended to have around when there are any children under 4.
- Find a way (we use a hairband) to keep the noodles together otherwise you will have a huge mess later.
- It’s not going to keep the kids occupied for a very long time. Probably best to expect less than an hour of entertainment.