Kids’ Verbal Game: Tickle Words

Switch them on, switch them off. But no matter what, you got to keep on your toes!

ADDED June 11, 2009

kids activities

Length: Ongoing

Parental Involvement: Explanation of the concepts, tickling

Kids Should Be Able to: Pay attention to specific words, express themselves

In the 1950's, Groucho Marx hosted a game show called You Bet Your Life. I've seen some re-runs, and I have to admit, those old shows are pretty funny. On that game show, there was a designated "secret" word that, if a contestant said it, he or she would immediately win big money. (Well, it was big money for the 1950's: one hundred bucks.)

We've taken that concept into our house and turned it on its head a bit. In our house, we have "tickle words." If someone -- anyone -- utters a tickle word, they get tickled! So please, be careful.

This is how we did it: I explained the concept of tickle words to the kids (as it turns out, they understood "say a special word, get tickled" right away.) Then, we each chose two words to be our chosen "tickle words."

My three-year-old chose "forest" and "jungle." His brother chose "tomato" and "plant." I chose "pickle." My wife, who is the only member of the family with any noticeable sanity, begrudgingly chose "pasta."

This activity is fun for a couple reasons: because (a) tickling is generally fun, (b) everyone gets to participate and choose words, and (c) it makes everybody in our family watch what they and others say very closely. You're not sure the kids are listening? Slyly drop a tickle word!

Here are some other important rules and guidelines we've instituted:

In choosing the words, no super common ones, such as the, a, but, etc. This would lead to way too much tickling.
Any family member can, at any time, turn off the tickle words for themselves. This means they can talk freely without fear of a tickle attack. Everyone has to respect the "off" request.
No changing tickle words. Once they're chosen, that's it. If tickle words change all the time, I wouldn't remember what to avoid saying, I would get tickled a lot, and I would go nuts.
If the President, Daddy's boss, or the Queen of England comes over for dinner, all tickle words will be automatically turned off. We don't want to cause any awkward international incidents.

Choose your family's words, and let the fun (and tickling) begin!