Third Annual Father-Daughter Games

Nineteen daddy-daughter teams competed in our third annual father-daughter game day!  Thanks to Baltazar’s diligent recruitment, the majority were new participants, more than compensating for the absent families who seem to have lost interest in our activities.  I was glad that among the newcomers was a friend of mine who is a leader in a different religion; he evidently had a great time playing with his daughters.  

For the April 18 event, some men brought one daughter, some brought two, and one brought three.  The girls ranged in age from around three to about twenty.  I oriented the activities with the capable assistance of a young man named Faizal who often leads games at our church; a neighbor couple who also belongs to our congregation; and my godson Blaine.

In our first competition, fathers mimed their daughters’ descriptions of common activities, then each family voted on whose acting was the best.  In a relay race, dads passed batons along to their girls, who ran with them to the finish line.  Sitting at tables, each family wrote a creative story based on an initial prompt about a girl who lost her phone on a stormy day when she wanted to go out with friends; after reading their stories aloud, they voted on the winners.  

My helpers and I tied fathers to their daughters at the ankles, fastened a balloon to the outermost ankle in each family group, then watched each family try to pop each other’s balloons while protecting their own.  Free of the cords, they then ran around the premises untying yellow ribbons from where we’d hidden them, each family seeking to collect the most.  Seated back-to-back with their daughters, the fathers guessed their girls’ favorite main dish, soft drink, and dress color.

The group cheered and laughed as each dad took a turn jumping rope while his daughters turned it; the winner jumped 67 times in a row!  Unfortunately, we ran out of time for races more suitable for littler girls:  one with the fathers carrying their daughters, another with the men calling their toddlers to run to them, and a third with ankles tied together.  At Baltazar’s request, we simply jumped to the last game, a word search done seated at tables while our volunteers passed out cookies and juice.

In all, over half of the families won chocolate prizes for winning one of our games, some of which ended in ties.  More importantly, all nineteen men spent the morning with their daughters:  laughing, visiting, playing, and enjoying their company.  Pray with me, please, that these fathers will faithfully shepherd their girls’ hearts, and that many family bonds will be strengthened through our father-daughter picnic on June 6.