Synonyms
George and Darcy have set up a ball diamond in the living room. The three bases are small board books; home plate is a purple cushion. There are neither balls nor bats anywhere in sight, but the game is unhindered by such details.
George calls to Darcy, who is sitting on home plate. “You need to move. I’m going to slide?”
“Why?”
“Because that’s what you DO on home plate.”
“You slide?”
“Yes. So you need to move.”
Darcy stands, walks over to first base (aka “Things That Go”) and plants a foot on it. He shuffles with it under his left foot, and plants his right on second base (“Horns to Toes”), then shifts and shuffles towards the outfield (aka the front hall) with a book (aka a base) under each foot. George watches this with growing consternation.
“Darcy! What are you doing with the bases??”
“Slidin’.”
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It's Not All Mary Poppins 
We love Horns to Toes.
And this is pretty much how we play Quiddich at our house. What with the winging it and all.
We love Sandra Boynton! Horns to Toes is a huge favourite, as is Red Hat, Green Hat (which is called round here either the “Oops Book”, or the “Silly Turkey Book”).
Do your guys really play Quiddich, or do you just get that airsick feeling trying to figure out the vagaries of whatever it is they are playing? This is generally my experience…
Try teaching little ones how to play baseball. You say things like slide and they understand something entirely different.
Creative little buggers though!
Matthew: I’ve no experience with little ones and real baseball; only my eldest played, and not till she was eleven or so.
But I bet you’ve seen soccer, and maybe hockey. Aren’t they hysterical to watch? Specially at about oh, five and six years old: typically they have absolutely no sense of team play, so all you see is this scrambling mob of children around the puck/ball.
And then when someone makes a stunning breakaway, they’re generally running in the wrong direction, their coach is madly waving from the sidelines – “The OTHER way, the OTHER way!!” – and when the goal is scored, everyone is thrilled. The kid who made the goal, because s/he got it in the net, in the net, IN THE NET!!!, and the other team, because they get the point. See? A win-win!!
My older son (now 37) used to do this strange thing in the middle of the living room. We finally figured out he was sliding into second base in slow motion from watching too much baseball with me on t.v. He’s never lived it down. Would have sold my first born for a video camera back then.
LOL… Couldn’t be worse than the story that’s told on someone I once knew: he was overheard in the tub at about age two, having a long and involved conversation with “the little guy”. Guess who said “little guy” was? His mother would have sold her first born to have taped it – except he was her first born!!