Author: Chak Riya

Last Sunday afternoon, a heavy downpour rolled in and washed out our plan to go buy study supplies for my son. We live in the tropics, so storms like this during the rainy season are nothing new, but a canceled errand still means the same thing every time: two kids stuck inside with a lot of energy and nowhere to put it. Instead of turning on a screen, I pulled together a few indoor games using things we already had lying around the house. That afternoon turned into one of our favorite living room activities, and it has stuck around…

Yesterday, after my 8-year-old son came home from school, he ate and rested for a while like he always does. Around 4:00 in the afternoon, he wandered out to the backyard to water the vegetables and check on the crops, something he does almost every day. But this time, when he came back inside, he wasn’t empty-handed. He was holding one single leaf, and instead of heading to the kitchen for a snack like usual, he walked straight into his room. Five minutes later, he walked back out holding a drawing. A turtle. A really good one. That little moment…

Yesterday afternoon, around 3 p.m., my son went out to the backyard to water the flowers and plants, just like he does every day. But once he finished watering, things got quiet. Too quiet. I glanced over and saw him crouched by the bushes, picking leaves one by one. A little while later, a small cat face suddenly appeared on a piece of cardboard, complete with a pretty pink bow on one ear. It took me a second to realize my son hadn’t found a cat at all. He’d built one, out of leaves and a single flower petal. That’s…

Yesterday morning, my 8-year-old son gathered his books and school supplies like he does every day. He stood by the door, pressed his hands together in a sampeah (a gentle palms-together gesture we use at home to say goodbye and show respect), slung his backpack over his shoulders, and headed off to school. My 3-year-old daughter was watching every second of it. She copied her big brother and pressed her own little hands together too. But the moment he stepped out the door, she pointed straight at his backpack and started saying, “That, that…” I knew right away what she…

Last Sunday afternoon, my 3-year-old daughter found an empty cardboard box and started dragging it around the house, scattering everything in her path. We had been stuck inside all morning, and cabin fever was starting to set in. Watching her pull that box across the living room, knocking over toys and threatening to make a bigger mess, an idea hit me around 3 PM: why not turn all that pent-up energy into a DIY cardboard boat with oars instead? If there’s one thing I’ve learned about kids, it’s that the packaging usually excites them more than the toy inside. We’d…

By eight o’clock, right after my 8-year-old son finishes his homework, our house fills up with laughter. Some nights it’s my two kids singing songs with words that make absolutely no sense. Other nights it’s just a chorus of “vroom, vroom!” bouncing off the walls. My husband responds the same way almost every time, covering his ears and groaning, “Ouch, my ears are falling off!” If you’re looking for easy, no-equipment indoor games for siblings to play at night—games that use nothing but a bit of space and a lot of imagination—here are the six we come back to almost…

If there is one thing I have learned as a mother of two, it is that the stretch between 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM is the hardest part of the day. By mid-afternoon, the house usually feels a little too small, the kids are restless, and the Cambodian afternoon heat means running wildly in the direct sun isn’t a great option. We needed a change of scenery, but I didn’t have the energy to build a complicated, Pinterest-perfect indoor fort that would take up my entire living room. So we took it outside. Using just four things I already had…

We’re in the middle of rainy season here in Asia, so most afternoons come with rain right on schedule. When you are stuck indoors for days on end, keeping toddlers entertained without resorting to screens can feel like a full-time job. But last Saturday, around 3 o’clock, the sky actually cleared up. I wasn’t going to waste it. I grabbed three empty cardboard boxes that were sitting by the door, walked out to our little garden, and, in about three minutes, turned them into a cardboard-box car with no wheels for my 3-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son to share. No…

There is a small garden right next to our house, and it is never really quiet. On some days, you will hear a loud “Vroom, vroom!” coming from a pretend car. On other days, it is “Dinner is ready!” or a small voice calling out, “Grandma, would you like to buy some fresh vegetables?” These are just the everyday sounds of my two kids playing together, my 8-year-old son and my 3-year-old daughter. Over the past year or so, I have picked up a handful of backyard pretend-play ideas for siblings almost by accident, mostly by paying attention to what…

Last Sunday at 11:30 AM, we were sitting down for lunch and mapping out the afternoon. At 4:00 PM, we were supposed to head to the market for daily necessities and new school supplies for our 8-year-old son. By 3:00 PM, everyone was dressed and ready. Then, at 4:15 PM, our 3-year-old daughter wandered out to the front patio, pointed toward the yard, and said, “There, there… go, go!” That was the end of our shopping plans. What replaced them was an afternoon of “vroom, vroom” and sibling laughter, all thanks to a DIY ride-on toy from a plastic barrel…