Fun Games to Play With Paper

Ghost in the Paper

• Ghost in the Paper is a pencil and paper game that looks for designs in a crumpled piece of paper. The object of the game is to see how many designs each person can find in their crumpled paper which others can also see. Each person is given a piece of paper and they crumple it several times. The paper is then smoothed out. The objects in the paper use only the lines of the crumple. No free form lines allowed. Color is added to make the object appear more like the real thing.

Dot Game

• The Dot Game uses rows and columns of dots to create a type of grid drawing. The object of the dot game is to see who can connect the most squares with their initials inside and prevent others from making the boxes. The dots are drawn every 1/4 inch both vertically and horizontally. One person connects two dots, the next person connects two dots and so on. The person who connects the dots that makes the square puts their initials in the box. They then get another turn until they run out of boxes to make. The person with the most initialed squares wins.

Alphabet Squares

• The Alphabet Squares game requires a 4 x 4 minimum boxed grid. Place either a constanent or a vowel in each square. Each player has the same boxed grid. The object of the game is to see how many words can be made from the mixed up letters in a given time period. More words can be made from larger boxed grids. The Alphabet Squares game works the best when an adult pre-makes the squares with the lettering prior to using. One way to select the letters is to create a short phrase that is 16 letters long for the 4 x 4 square. Add a bonus to the game for anyone who figures out the phrase words.