Sally Worsham
How to Play: Find the Leprechaun's Pot of Gold
Preschoolers, Kids 5-7, Kids 8-11, Fun & Activities, Holidays, Toys & Games, Kids' Games
Help Willy find his pot o' gold. Credit: jpmpinmontreal, Flickr
How to play: Cut circles out of construction paper and decorate to look like coins -- you will need around five coins per player. Then, select two or three coins to be gold or silver. If you go with silver, just wrap these in aluminum foil to look shiny. You can also use chocolate coins for gold coins. Select an area or room in which to hide the coins for your game. Depending on age, it can be easy or difficult; however, you want to make your gold or silver coins the hardest to find.
The rules: Tell the players the story of Leprechaun Willy who was visiting this morning and shared a tale of woe. He was out the other day with his Pot of Gold when he was distracted by a rainbow. Leprechaun Willy wanted to see the rainbow, so he put his Pot of Gold down to get a better look. While Willy was away, some squirrels came upon his Pot of Gold and thought the coins in his pot were nuts, so they took the coins and hid them. When Willy returned, he was shocked to see someone took all his gold and silver coins. Willy has been searching for his coins all day, but has yet to find them. Ask the kids if they would like to help Willy find his coins, tell them that you remember seeing Willy in the room where you hid the coins, and that Willy mentioned he lost a lot of them -- a few were even gold (or silver). Willy is willing to give a prize to whoever finds the most coins.
How to win: The player who finds the gold or silver coins is the winner.
Related: How to Play: Leprechaun, Leprechaun, Where Is Your Shamrock?
How to Play: St. Patrick's Day Corners
Preschoolers, Kids 5-7, Kids 8-11, Fun & Activities, Holidays, Toys & Games, Kids' Games
Print St. Patrick's Day-related images to play this game. Credit: SuperFantastic, Flickr
What you need: Music, a room with four corners, a hat or box and two copies of four St. Patrick's Day-themed images, such as an Irish flag, a leprechaun, a gold coin and a four leaf clover.
How to play: Place one St. Patrick's Day image in each of the four corners of the room. Then, let the players know that when the music plays, they can move around. However, once the music stops, they need to proceed to one of the four corners. Once the players have selected a corner, the music operator pulls out an image from a hat and those players standing in that corner are eliminated from the game. Then, start the music back up, mingle and repeat the process.
The rules: The St. Patrick's Day image you pulled from the hat is returned before the music starts again, so this game can have as many rounds as necessary.
How to win: The last player remaining is the winner.
Related: Celebrating St. Patrick's Day
How to Play: Leprechaun, Leprechaun, Where Is Your Shamrock?
Preschoolers, Kids 5-7, Fun & Activities, Holidays, Toys & Games, Kids' Games
Guess who has the shamrock to win. Credit: theogeo, Flickr
How to play: The children sit in a circle, and one child is chosen to be the leprechaun who sits in the middle with his or her eyes closed. One of the children in the circle gets the shamrock and hides it behind his or her back. The children in the circle say, "Leprechaun, Leprechaun, where is your shamrock? Somebody has it in his pocket! Guess who? Maybe you? Maybe a monkey from the zoo? Come on, Leprechaun, find your shamrock!" The leprechaun opens his or her eyes and gets three guesses to discover who has the shamrock. Whoever has the shamrock becomes the next leprechaun.
The rules: An adult should hand out the shamrock to be sure everyone gets a turn.
How to win: Correctly guess who has the shamrock.
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How to Play: Valentine Puzzle
Fun & Activities, Holidays, Kids' Games
Cut up paper hearts to make puzzles. Credit: Ctd 2005, Flickr
What you need: To make the puzzles, you need five large hearts, cardboard, paste and scissors. Paste the hearts to the cardboard, and then cut each one into small pieces.
How to play: Set out each puzzle in a separate area and assign children to each puzzle. Each team tries to put the valentine together in its proper shape in a certain amount of time.
What are the rules: Players can also go from puzzle to puzzle to see who can put the most puzzles together.
How to win: The team who puts the puzzle together the fastest wins.
How to Play: Hearts and Mittens
Fun & Activities, Holidays, Kids' Games
Valentine's Day fun and games! Credit: D Sharon Pruitt, Flickr
What you need: Red and blue craft foam, scissors, string or ribbon and a basket.
How to play: Cut from red craft foam half as many hearts and mittens as you expect in your company. Out of blue craft foam, cut hearts and mittens for the rest of the company. Number them so every heart has its corresponding mitten. Attach strings or ribbons to each and place them in a basket. Each guest takes the end of a string and pulls out his or her heart or mitten, as the case may be. Each one then hunts for his or her partner.
The rules: When all are paired off, a circle is formed and someone strikes up a lively march. Whenever the music stops, all the girls stay where they are, and the boys move up one person. This goes on until everyone has had a different partner, and finally, when the original one comes back around, there is a grand march before the circle breaks up.
How to Play: Heart Pricks
Fun & Activities, Holidays, Kids' Games
Stick the arrow on the paper heart to win this game. Credit: anne.oeldorfhirsch, Flickr
What you need: A blindfold, a poster board-sized red heart, white paper arrows and poster tack.
How to play: Tack the red heart onto a wall. Line the players up across from the heart. Taking turns, each player gets a white arrow with poster tack on its back and is blindfolded, spun around and set towards the red heart to tack the arrow onto the heart.
The rules: If smaller children do not want to be blindfolded, they can simply close their eyes.
How to win: In this Valentine's Day variation of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, the player who tacks his or her arrow closest to the center of the heart wins.
Related: Hearts and Mittens, Valentine Puzzle
How to Play: Heart Hunt
Preschoolers, Kids 5-7, Kids 8-11, Teens & Tweens, Fun & Activities, Holidays, Toys & Games, Kids' Games
Cut hearts out of paper to play this game. Credit: helgasms!, Flickr
What you need: Using scissors, you need to make red, white, yellow, green and blue hearts of all sizes and shapes out of construction paper. Next, cut each heart into four broken pieces.
How to play: While players are out of the room, scatter all of the broken heart pieces. Invite the children into the room to hunt for all of the heart pieces. After a certain amount of time, ask each player to put his or her pieces together to make full hearts.
The rules: Count how many whole hearts each player has, and give points for each whole heart by color: white (one point), blue (two points), yellow (three points), green (four points) and red (five points).
How to win: Whoever has the most points wins the game.
What else you need to know: If a player only finds broken hearts, he or she could win some sort of booby prize.
Related: Initial Compliments, Heart Pricks, Valentine Puzzle
How to Play: Initial Compliments
Start this game by writing your name on a slip of paper. Credit: henrybloomfield, Flickr
What you need: Pens or pencils, a box (or hat) and slips of paper.
How to play: Each player writes his or her name down on a slip of paper, puts it in a box or hat and then must draw another's name. Once a player draws a name, he or she must think of an adjective that starts with each letter of the child's name drawn.
The rules: Players read their adjectives to one another and vote for who gave the most creative adjectives.
How to win: Think of the most creative adjectives.
What else you need to know: This game can be adjusted for younger children by asking them to only think of one adjective that begins with the first letter of the child's name.
Make Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Meaningful for Kids
Fun & Activities, Holidays, Education
Martin Luther King, Jr. in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. King said the March on Washington was "the greatest demonstration of freedom in the history of the United States." Credit: AFP / Getty Images
1. Read a book. Take the time to read a book with your child about King's life. An excellent picture book for preschoolers to fourth graders is "I've Seen the Promised Land: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." by Walter Dean Myers. It offers an overview of King's role in the civil rights movement and features powerful illustrations by Leonard Jenkins. Another good choice is "Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." by Doreen Rappaport, which combines text from King's most famous speeches with his life story.
2. Watch a movie. The 1986 documentary "Martin Luther King Jr. - I Have a Dream" not only presents his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in its entirety, but also shows scenes from the crowd of more than 200,000 people who marched on Washington to support the civil rights movement and to attend the Aug. 28, 1963, event. For a more complete overview of King, the 1978 NBC miniseries, "King," is available on DVD, and remains a powerful dramatization of his life and message.
Bullying: How to Spot It and Stop It
Kids 5-7, Kids 8-11, Teens & Tweens, Resources, Bullying
Bullying is a problem that has been around for years and is not going anywhere. Kids often do not tell their parents when they are being bullied because they are embarrassed or afraid that their tormentors will up their antics if adults get involved.
Realizing parents' limited experience with bullies, the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration has sponsored Stop Bullying Now!, a kid-friendly Web site that includes a section that helps parents identify when their child is being bullied.
Among signs to look for are kids coming home with unexplained bruises and cuts. They might also have torn or damaged clothing and books. Children who once liked school might lose interest if they're being bullied. Others might have trouble sleeping or suffer from headaches, stomach problems, a loss of appetite or symptoms of anxiety. A fear of school is also common among bullied children.
To stop bullying, parents have to find out exactly what is happening. They should ask direct questions like, "Are there any kids who tease you?" Parents can also ask indirect questions like "Who do you sit with at lunch and on the bus?" If the child still won't open up, parents should contact the school.
Teachers, guidance counselors and principals can often evaluate the relationship between a child and his or her peers. It might be hard for teachers to identify bullying outright; however, parents can ask questions like, "How does my child get along with other students in the class?"
Bullying can have dangerous side effects, including death, which is why it's important that parents pay attention to changes in their children's behavior.
Read more about bullying at ParentDish, including how bullies in other countries are fended off by bodyguards.
