2.for.Tuesday

Not quite Tuesday, but just in time for Halloween. I'm kindergarten room mom this year + we're having a party. These are the games I came up with plus a link to some other fun ones that we're going to use. one: Ghoulies. This one is basically Cooties. I was inspired by this post from Angry Chicken. She made a little art project for her girls with color + cut + mix + match pumpkin faces. I took it one step further and made it a game [for 2-5 players]. Here you go:

1. print + cut. My pages are HERE in the box.
2. set up the game: sort according to type... eyes, ears [also includes bolts, antenna, horns...]. You will need a die [as in the singular for dice, not to be confused with death and all things halloween].
3. Enjoy the game!

And for those rusty in Cootie skills... Each number on the die corresponds to a type of feature

1. pumpkin head
2. eyes [and all things eye related i.e. glasses]
3. noses
4. mouths
5. ears
6. free [since we're playing with kindergarteners I left this one free + the roller gets to choose whatever they need].

So, basically you just take turns rolling the die and the features are first come first served. As in, just because you got the cat ears doesn't mean you get the cat face, etc. These pumpkin heads will be totally random and really fun.
The only real hard and fast rules in cooties are that you can only roll the die once per turn [i.e. I rolled a one and I already have my head so I want to keep rolling until I get a four because the mouth is the only thing I'm missing. Yeah, that doesn't work] the other is that you must have a body [pumpkin head] before you can add features [but you can change that if you want to... after all, it's your party]. Yes, you must roll a 1 first [or, a 6 because this is kindergarten after all].
two: Skeleton Scramble. Check out the template for this paper coffin from Martha Stewart. Eyeball it much bigger to alter your basic cardboard box to be a coffin. Add a mixed up skeleton [I like the plastic ones that really have the shape of bones] + fill with dirt. The kids get to dig in the dirt to find the skeleton pieces + race to put it back together again. I'm considering picking up some very small skeleton keychains + just doing it the size of the template. But that would remove the running back and forth fun of the race. I envision a team lined up. First person runs + finds a bone + runs back. Next person does the same + so on. Until they have all the pieces. Now it's a race to assemble it. When I told Melissa this idea she wanted to do it for her pre-school so I didn't put it together. Thus, you just get the idea, not the photos +/or templates. Have a happy + safe Halloween. Remember that he who hands out the candy also gets to eat the candy. Enjoy the Journey!

  **later** the game went beautifully. The kids enjoyed it and we only had a few broken hearts because they didn't get the feature they wanted. They even had time to color them. I took a few photos. I'll get them up when I can. The only downer for me was that my own little man wouldn't play because right off someone chose the eyes he wanted and that was the end of that. There was no compromising on the eyes. I also think the game would have gone much more smoothly if we had waited to glue the features on until the game was over. Have them place the feature where they would place them but don't bust out the glue and crayons until everyone is ready to use them. It really clogs up the flow of the game. Believe me. I know. You could either have them get their boxes and set them under their chairs or have them go and get them after they have all their features. Heck, if space is available you could also have them go to a neighboring table and get to work while the others finish playing.