Super Olden Days Pinball Wizard

 
My kids love pinball, and I think because of the same reasons that I am not a fan. 

Essentially, pinball is loud.  There is a lot of racket and often a lot of flashing lights.  My kids were given a small pinball contraption as a gift, and well, I'm ready to re-gift it!

In order to better satisfy the pro- and anti-pinball contingents in my home, I have invented a new, more mellow version of the game:  super olden days pinball.

In super olden days, people didn't have electricity.  They had to make do without it.  And this version of pinball would have worked back then, too.

What your kids needs is a bunch of wooden blocks and one marble.  Have the kids arrange the blocks in an interesting pattern. 

Designate some of the blocks as "you get points" blocks.  Other blocks could be "you lose points" blocks.  Make sure the kids understand which is which.

Two blocks should be the paddles.  These will smack the marble and send it caroming onto the course!

This activity is good for early- to mid-elementary school grades; these kids can keep track of score as well as be trusted to do launch the marble dangerously high or hard.

My kids really enjoyed this one.  They liked keeping score and they liked building their own pinball course.

They didn't even seem to miss the loud noises or flashing lights!  Much better than the real thing!