LindaGray©2017
Pencil & Paper Games
Literally all you need to play these games is a pen or pencil and some paper. Also, all games are played on one side of the sheet of paper so you could recycle old letters etc; that have only been printed on one side.
Or invest in a special games pad and a nice pen and pencil set for everyone in the family. Whatever suits you at the moment is what works!
If everyone has their own ‘game’ pad, they can be easily tidied and found again and you could encourage the children to decorate the cover or even use it for odd drawings or stories they want to write.
Having the tools available, will really help encourage imagination and creativity – with a little organic fun thrown in for good measure.
LindaGray©2017
Battleships
The pencil and paper version of battleships has been a family favourite since before the First World War! The game can be adapted to suit the age of the child and the level of difficulty required.
Play a quick game on a small grid or stretch it out and play for as long as you like.
To play traditional battleships you will need:
2 players
2 fairly large sheets of paper – A4 is fine or graph paper could be used
A pencil or pen for each player
Draw two grids on each sheet of paper, ten squares by ten squares. Number the squares from 1-10 along the top of each grid and label the rows as letters A-J along one side from top to bottom.
All four grids must be identical at this stage.
Each player takes his or her sheet of paper with two grids and positions their ‘ships’ on the top grid. To identify each ‘ship’ put the initial letter in the squares you choose. All ships must be on a vertical or horizontal line and must not overlap.
These are the ships to place on your top grid;
1 Aircraft carrier (A) – using 5 squares
1 Battleship (B) – using 4 squares
1 Cruiser (C) - using 3 squares
1 Destroyer (D) – 3 squares
1 Submarine (S) – 2 squares
At this point you can create your own version, making it easier to sink ships by putting more on your grids, or make it harder by putting fewer ships on your grid.
On the next page there’s an example of how your top grid should look before starting to play. The bottom grid should be empty for now
LindaGray©2017
