What it is: A game, or really more of an activity, to play around the house. It’s ideal for one to two players, really entertaining for little children, a new favorite of my four-year-old, and the reason my handheld mirror is broken.
Best for: One, two, or three children in a house
What you need:
- A handheld mirror, not huge, but big enough to see your whole face in. If you have more than one person, you can have more than one mirror (more fun). Or you can take turns (less fun).
How to play: This is a simple one. You take a handheld mirror and use it to pretend to walk on the ceiling. To do this, just hold the mirror parallel to the floor, pressed against your face right underneath your nose. Then look down into the mirror, which will be displaying a reflection of the ceiling.
If you walk around and use your suspension of disbelief, it kind of feels like you’re actually walking on the ceiling, especially if the mirror is large enough to cover up the view of your feet and the ground beneath you.
So then the fun part comes in the novelty of walking on the ceiling. There are light fixtures to avoid, door frames to step over, and sometimes giant pits (aka, vaulted ceilings) that you could fall into. The ceiling is a dangerous place. It can be fun to play with two people, so you can plan and explore together. You can definitely add more imaginative play too, like a mission to complete or ceiling goblins chasing after you or the spacetime continuum to restore to balance. Something like that.
Just be sure that when you’re playing you’re not totally unaware of the ground you’re actually walking on. Me and my sisters loved to play this when we were little, and I remember getting banged shins from coffee tables in the process. Make sure the rooms are tidy, without too many toys or objects to trip over or step on. (Like Legos. Legos are the worst.)
It’s funny, I recently taught my son Carson to play this. He loved it from the get-go. And asks to play every time I’m doing my hair and makeup and he sees my little mirror. Did I mention he broke one already? Now I know why my mom was always reluctant to let us play when I was a kid. She was worried not only about the safety of her mirrors, but us, too.
I never got it before. I couldn’t understand why she wanted to take away all our fun like that.
I understand now, Mom. I understand.