DIY Ninja Game

Since I read to my boys all the time when they were babies and toddlers, I really thought they would grow to love reading. But the truth is they don’t. (At least not yet.) So I’ve had to get creative. I’ve been trying to come up with activities we can do that correspond with our current nighttime reading. I’ve found my boys are more excited to read (and even listen to) books when they know the storyline will inspire fun experiments, games, snacks and more.

Most recently we read Night of the Ninjas from Mary Pope Osborne’s Magic Tree House Series. Are you familiar with this series? Magic Tree House books are simple chapter books for early readers. The fun, descriptive story lines transport readers to different cultures and time periods as they travel with siblings Jack and Annie.

In Night of the Ninjas, Jack and Annie had to figure out which direction was East. Since they didn’t have a compass, they pushed a stick into the ground and took note of how long the shadow is. Naturally, my boys were anxious to try this as well. (Learn more about finding direction without a compass here.)

And, of course, what could be more ninja than Star Throwing? We made our origami stars following this great tutorial. Have your little ninja sharpen his throwing skills with our free Ninja Game Target Printable.