Over a year ago, Josiah was already playing at the Beatrix Potter stories, taking on characters and quoting them. "I have a switch. I'm looking for my son," he told me one day. After a pause, he inquired, "You my son, Mom?"
Lydia came wailing to the back door a few weeks ago. "Mama! 'Siah shot me with his bow! I has an owie!" she said. (Uncle D conveniently gave him a bow and arrows for Christmas.)
I said, "What was going on? Why'd he shoot you?"
Lydia replied, "I was cock robin."
(For context, in case you don't know the nursery rhyme, here it is.)
In recent days they have played lots of Beatrix Potter: Peter Rabbit/Benjamin/Mr. MacGregor, the Flopsey Bunnies, Mr. Tod and Tommy Brock, Squirrel Nutkin, etc. Josiah usually starts a game by declaring himself a particular (coveted) character: "I'm Benjamin Bunny! Who you gonna be, Lydia and Ab?" Sometimes he tries to coerce or cajole them into being particular characters. He usually wants a "bad guy," so someone has to play Mr. MacGregor, for instance. Sometimes they rotate roles and take turns. The girls' grimaces as Mr. MacGregor are a sight to behold.
Lydia
They've also played Ping and Ferdinand (the former which involves spanking, and the latter which involves "butting with horns," so neither usually turns out well).
Lydia
They like to re-enact Richard Scarry characters like Sam and Dudley, Huckle and Lowly and Sally, Lappy and his reindeer, Cucumber and Pickles, Pip-pip, Mr. Fixit, Sergeant Murphy, and others.
J, L, A
Josiah's interest in Calvin and Hobbes often turns into games, too. He likes to be Hobbes; one of his sisters "gets" to be "Talvin," and the other has to settle for being the mom or Susie. This game also typically ends quickly, as Hobbes nails Calvin or they both bombard Susie with "snowballs."
Abby
They went through a Curious George phase, where they requested George stories every day and listened to them via audio book as well. (I got so sick of them! The first Curious George story is fine, but the rest are kind of silly and contrived and without strong plot, in my opinion.) Then one of the kids would decide to be George. "Please you be the firemen?" she'd ask. Josiah often liked to be the Man in the Yellow Hat.
Abby
I particularly enjoy hearing them sing/recite various nursery rhymes or quote directly from various retellings of nursery tales as they play. (They like the Richard Scarry's Animal Nursery Tales, and we've read a lot of Arnold Lobel's nursery rhymes book, his Gregory Griggs compilation, and A Treasury of Mother Goose by Hilda Offen.)
They've cycled through playing at Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the Wolf and the Kids, Old MacDonald, the Musicians of Bremen, and the Three Little Pigs. Yesterday I overheard Little Bo Peep (Abby) searching for her sheep (Lydia--just one in this re-enactment). Josiah said, "Hey, LIttle Bo Peep, here's your sling and sword! You gotta hit a lion on the head if he tries to get your sheep!"
Lydia and Josiah
Speaking of lion-slaying and slings, Josiah quite enjoys playing David in his fight against wild animals that threaten his flock (sisters). Sometimes he goes up against Goliath, but the girls don't like to pretend to be the giant. Usually Daddy is designated as Goliath, whether he wills it or no.
Abby
Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad is a perennial favorite around here, and Josiah loves being Frog. Some weekends he pretends he's Frog all day long and calls Jeremy "Toad" as they work and play outside. If Jeremy doesn't respond to his designated moniker, Josiah gets insistent: "Hey Toad! TOAD! TOOOAAADD!!" Last week Josiah told me he was "Viking Frog." I guess he decided Frog needed to really up his game and fight some dragons, and in order to do that, he needed to be a viking (since he's seen clips of How to Train Your Dragon). When his sisters play Frog and Toad with him, one gets to be Frog, and the other is usually the Snail who brings Toad a letter from Frog.
Abby
My mom picked up a book with lovely illustrations of the Good King Wenceslas song. We only read it a few times around Christmas, but the kids have acted it out many a time! One is Good King Wenceslas, one the page, one the poor man.
Lydia
Beyond books, the kids also like to act out various movies or shows they've seen (or seen parts of). Their favorite is Robin Hood, Little John, and Prince John or Maid Marian (they've seen most of Disney's Fox Robin Hood). Since Grandma and Pa in Flagstaff let them watch a few episodes of Flipper and Lassie, they love to play those, too! Flipper is funny to watch--one thrashes around on the floor as Flipper, sometimes helping out the boy in some way, sometimes "drinking milk from his Mama" (one of the girls lifts her shirt for the Flipper girl). Less often they're Snoopy, Woodstock, and "Woodchip."
What games they come up with--and what fun they have! And what fun we have watching them. :)
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