No Ummmmms Game

Something I noticed in my kids is that they are saying ummmmmm and like quite a bit. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that…they are kids! I did want to see if they could resist the urge and played the no ummmmms game with them.

This is a game that I came across to work on just being comfortable with the pauses or silence. It also practices being able to think through an answer without feeling the need to fill it with some type of noise - particularly an ummmmm. The game consists of a timed minute where you have to name words that fit into a category. It could be kids toys and you could say Hot Wheels, Play Doh, Legos, and so on. Each correct word is a point and if you say ummmmm, the time stops immediately. Whoever has the most points wins and the competition is what my 7 year old daughter E and 5 year old son C likes.

When we first started playing it one night, they were terrible. The ummmmms were flowing out easily and they weren’t scoring very high. After a few rounds though, they started to get the hang of it. Strategically, they learned to just wait until the next word came to them without stressing out. They went from scoring 2-4 points to 12-15 points in a minute.

They were so addicted to the game for a few days that they constantly asked me to play. This required me to time them on my watch. They even went on walks after dinner with the doggo just so they could play. As you can imagine, it is hard to time accurately with a creature pulling you all over the place, especially if this creature is 75 pounds. We made it happen though and I feel like they aren’t saying ummmmm as much. The downside is that when I say ummmmm, they are quick to point it out. Something something reap what you sow!