Although presenting some basic math and word problems to a group of young kids at a party might not always go down well, to say the least, the following activities incorporate an educational element that the kids might just enjoy as they ‘hunt for treasure’.

The basic treasure hunting game structure

To play this basic treasure hunting game you will need to give each guest a card that has something like “Go to the next blue spot” and a number on it. On the ground you make a trail of colored ‘spots’ that the kids walk to when it is their turn in the sequence, which is represented by the number on their card. The trail of colored spots are pre-prepared placements of six main colors in any order (e.g. blue, green, blue, red, yellow, white, blue, black, blue….), but only by following the instructions on the cards in the correct sequence will the treasure be ‘found’. The last guest has ‘Lift the next red spot’, or some other color and that is where the ‘treasure’ is. This game involves each child following the instructions with the other guests ‘double checking’ the move. Each new ‘move’ begins at the last colored spot that the previous guest was standing on (or near, since these will be frail paper or card ‘spots’). Only the child who has the next numbered card in the sequence can make the move and then after they have moved they can show the rest of the guests their card so the move can be ‘confirmed’ by all. The last card can be given to the birthday girl or boy, if appropriate, and the rest of the cards can be shuffled and given out at random. If there is no ‘special’ person that you want to give the last card to, then all of the cards can be given out at random. Also, with the same basic trail, you can make three or four ‘variation’ packs of cards with different sequences arriving at a different destination with a different ‘treasure’ under the last card in the given sequence. The treasure should be an interesting (possibly matching the party theme) picture of something that is also noted on the last card itself, so that if you have prepared multiple ‘sequences’ you will know if the treasure matches the correct result. All you need to do is to work out the correct sequence instructions and prepare the cards, ahead of time, which is quite an activity within itself!

The same treasure hunting game structure with letters and words

Another variation, that is slightly more educational, involves you laying out large letters that form a trail (these can be printed or hand drawn) . You then give each child a numbered picture, the pictures are of a dog, cat or other simple objects. Then, in numbered card sequence, your party guests spell out the word for the picture that is on the card and stop on the trail at the last letter in the word. The next guest takes over and these steps repeat until the last guest arrives at the ‘treasure’. This game will need supervision and some prompting from the hostess, and of course the party guests can ‘help’ each other. This game is slightly more complicated than the first but follows the same basic game structure as the colored spots. The layout of the letters can be simple or complicated, for example the trail sequence a,c,d,d,g,o,g,f for the picture word ‘dog’ has the guest standing on the last letter ‘g’ in the given sequence, if they start from the letter a.

The same treasure hunting game structure with numbers and simple math problems

This one is the most difficult of the three and involves giving out a numbered sequence of cards with a simple math problem. For example “What is 3 + 2 ?”. The guests follow the cards in sequence, as with the other games, only numbers are laid out as the trail. The guest with card number ‘one’ looks at their math problem and then goes to the first number that matches the answer. The next guest starts at the answer of the first guest then reads their math problem and goes to the next number that matches their answer. The game proceeds, as with the previous games, until the guest who has the last card arrives at their answer, which has the ‘treasure’ under it. This last game takes a little more preparation but, hopefully, will get the kids doing a little math ‘along the way’.

Over the years I have researched many party ideas, in particular educational games, that would be suitable for birthday and other parties. I have found that by having a large supply of these games, in reserve, I can adopt a play, repeat or discard strategy depending on how well the games are going. If things are going badly, for whatever reason, I just move on to the next game or activity until I find one that is well received then I repeat that activity a couple of times. Also, if the task is a little complicated and you suspect a guest might become flustered, have the guests form small teams to help each other out.

For young party guests of ages around 4 years of age there are a number games that will get the kids familiar with each other in an entertaining and enlightening manner. These games are suitable for both girls and boys but work well within the context of a tea party, either Victorian or Princess theme.

The first activity that can be played is introductions, where the guests go around the room exchanging their ‘calling cards’. The calling cards themselves can be playing cards from various themed card games (explained later) or home made calling cards, which the young guests make as a party activity when they first arrive.

If there are 6 to 8 guests then the card game Crazy Eights is ideal for making sets of these calling cards. The Crazy Eights card pack consists of sets of 4 picture cards. There is a Disney princess themes set of these cards that has 9 princesses, with 4 cards of each princess. There are many different themed Crazy Eights packs of cards available at stores or on the Internet so finding a suitable theme should not be an issue. You will need to buy two packs of these cards so that you can give up to eight people a complete set and have them exchange one card with each guest so that they end up with one each of the cards.

For parties with more than 8 you may need to make your own cards to give out from pictures on the Internet or simply have your guests write their name (or mark/symbol) on a small card.

When these cards have been given out the game can be played in reverse, that is the guests go around the room with a complete set of cards and collect their own set by exchanging a card with each guest.

There are variations of this matching style game and one that is suitable for a story themed princess party is to give out images of popular stories. Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White are three classic fairy tales that have many colorful images of the scenes on the Internet. You will need to give each guest a picture and have him or her find other guests from the ‘same story’. Then when they are in small groups have them arrange themselves in the correct picture sequence to ‘tell’ the story. This story arrangement activity can be done ‘one group’ at a time at the end of the activity when the guests have found their correct group. For most of these stories 3 or 4 scenes (pictures) should be sufficient and a large group (up to around 16) can comfortably play this game using 4 scenes from 4 stories.

I have used real Victorian calling cards (purchased from EBay) for a similar introductions game that also incorporated a vintage game of ‘funny conversations’, during a recent Victorian tea party event for my 14-year-old daughter. I purchased twenty or so distinctive vintage calling cards then made prints of them from scans. If you are handy with an image editor you can incorporate the guest’s names on images of these vintage cards, then print them out.

Alex

Stories are magical. Most people have a special memory connected to a special story. Some of us have a special story that connects us to our past and even supports our identity. For many reasons, stories have existed for millennia, and are integral in social societies.

I composed a paper some years ago that outlined why stories and storytelling are integral to the healthy growth of children. Stories and storytelling provide children with ways of learning and growing in many important and basic developmental areas: cognitive, social, emotional, and self-identity.

Cognitively, stories ask children to develop language skills, follow lines of logic, learn vocabulary, learn social roles, develop and exercise memory, understand culture, predict outcomes, and have a basis for relating to others. I could go on for paragraphs, or even pages, with all the benefits. In fact, it is proven that the brain is hard-wired to accept and process stories, and this is why we remember a well-crafted story for a very ling time.

Socially, children gain significantly from storytelling. Do you remember sitting in someone’s lap while getting a story read to you? Wasn’t it wonderful to have that person’s attention and to share an intimate story experience together? And do you remember being with siblings or with a class and experiencing the story together? It’s these shared experiences that create relationships and shape future social interactions. And one step further; if you ever re-enacted these stories with others, you were continuing to learn social rules and social roles that you built on and now refer to as an adult.

Experiencing emotions through storytelling can be safer for children than experiencing them directly. If a child hears of a character that is frightened or depressed, he can experience those emotions with the character in a supportive and healthy context, and even learn how to handle those emotions in a positive way through the story or characters present. The storyteller or other listeners can support the child too, by empathizing and helping the child label feelings that are new – or even scary – to experience. The storyteller can be a guide that facilitates the processing of emotions that the child experiences.

One of the roles of stories is to allow us to understand and “try on” different roles. As we listen of characters that run the gamut of descriptors, we travel from the “evil villain” end of the spectrum to the “delightful princes” or “brave and strong hero”, and back again. Though these can be cause for stereotypes, I believe it allows children to “try on” different roles while listening, but even more so when enacting stories themselves. This sets up children to make decisions about who they will become in the future, and how and why.

Story time should not be overlooked, dismissed, or glossed over. It is a very important part of childhood development. Learning so much during what appears to be a simple activity is what childhood is really all about. So, be it The Paperbag Princess, The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, or Bible Stories, I highly recommend reading to your children at every given opportunity, and to play out these games with them after reading. Make it a special time involving simple, repeated rituals that enhance the experience. I can promise that you and your child will benefit from these wonderful interactions.

Kristi Danz

In order for our children to learn well, we must nourish their brains with the proper foods.  Avocados are an excellent brain building food for children.  These bumpy little fruits (yep they are a fruit) are full of omega 3 fatty acid, vitamin E and have more potassium than a banana.  If we want our little ones ready to learn and alert then the avocado is a good friend to have. 

Have your kids play with their food.  I know we like to discourage too much of a disastrous mess but let them get to know their food.  One thing that I used to do with my daughter was put her on one side of the room with a round fruit (avocado, apple, orange.. you get the point) and then I would be on the other side of the room.  She would to push the avocado across the room to me then I would push it back.  Seems easy enough but if your fruit is not perfectly round it can be a challenge and a fun one.  We spent a lot of days on the floor getting to know our fruit.  Once she began to become acquainted, she didn’t mind trying it for a snack. 

Which brings me to my next topic – Snack  time.  An easy way to ease kids into eating their food is again.. letting them play with it.  Guacamole can be a simple fun snack for your child.  My daughter loved to get into the kitchen with me.  We would pull up the stool, I would chop and she would stir or squish.  The following is an easy recipe for guacamole that requires little time or effort.

Gator skin Guacamole

2 avocados (organic if possible)

1 tbsp. lemon or lime juice

½ tomato or splash of your favorite salsa

Pinch of salt to taste

Cut the avocados in half and scoop out the inside.  Keep the “alligator skin bowls” for serving (hey, one less dish to wash).  Put all ingredients in a bowl and let your kids squish it together.  I know, gross, but I am pretty sure it will be a good time for them..  Scoop back into the gator skins and serve up with their favorite chip or cracker.  *Tip – to keep avocados from spoiling to quickly before use, put in the fridge.

So, we have played a game and had a snack.  Let’s head into the lunchtime hour with a lesson in what that crazy avocado pit can do (ok, I am being sarcastic about the craziness of the pit BUT a mom/teacher has got to do what we have got to do.. feel me?).  I think that there is a good lesson in showing your children where their food comes from so here it the last avocado tip for today.   Grow an avocado tree.   It is simple but takes patience.  Here is what will need. 

1. Pit
2. Toothpicks
3. Water
4. shallow container
5.  sunny location

Now, clean and dry pit.  Carefully push toothpicks in the widest part of the pit about ½ inch(will look like a stool).  Don’t hurt yourself because the fun goes out the window when you are swearing and bleeding.  The purpose for the toothpicks is to keep the pit half out of the water.   Put pit (legs down) in the container then fill with water until the pits bottom half is submerged and top is sticking out.  Put in sunny window.  Refresh water every two weeks for 6 weeks and make sure that the water doesn’t evaporate.  In 6 weeks the top will split and a stem will sprout.  Transfer to a pot with the pit down stem up leaving the stem above the dirt/potting soil.  Watch your new avocado tree grow!

So there it is, a morning full of avocado fun.  Who knew one little piece of fruit could create hours of entertainment AND beef up the brain cells.  If all else fails just put avocado all over your face.  You’ll get a facial and your kids will get a laugh.

Snakes and ladders is a children’s classic board game and will teach a young child:-

Following basic rules
Going up the ladders and down the snakes

Recognizing numbers
At first they will count the dice spots then recognize the patterns for the numbers

Associating a number (count) with moves on the board
Having recognized the number on the dice spots the number of squares is counted off

Enjoying the competition and company
Often you will notice that the younger child will enjoy playing with a parent more than they enjoy playing with someone their own age.

There are also other lessons learnt including, winning, loosing and good old lady luck. One of the great things about snakes and ladders is that anyone who plays has the same chance of winning, as long as they can follow the rules.

The normal progression, from snakes and ladders, in race board games is to a game like Ludo or Sorry where the player has 4 pieces to move around a board. Even though the skill factor is limited the introduction of choice will encourage some strategic thinking in your child.

There are many other game types that will develop strategic thinking but the simple game of snakes and ladders should be played and played with a young child until they are comfortable with number recognition and following the rules.

If you are interested in buying classic race board games, there are many sold on EBay and are relatively inexpensive. These are a few titles I saw recently and all had incredible graphics and were reasonably priced:-

Fluffy tails race board game (1985)
Candy land (another classic for ages 3-6)
Winnie the Pooh board game (1964)
Peter Pan board game (1953)

These are just some and there are hundreds, many have spinners and beautiful graphics.
Also there are some incredible antique board games, going back to the Victorian times, that are available but these are more for collecting than playing.

Alex

One of the more popular kids party ideas I use is to create a race board game that your guests can actually walk on. This involves placing newspaper sheets all around your house (you can tape them to the floor, or use card stock for more stability). Your guests, each have their own dice (you have to trust them to keep things moving). The guests then take turns and shout their name when it is their turn and then throw the dice and move. The ‘trail’ can go into the garden and the kids end up all over the house shouting their name and the number they have just thrown. You can also create a kind of maze, with paths but this is more complicated. The sheets usually get ripped, so mats, hoops, or squares made of wrapping tape should be tried but this game is definitely worth the effort at your next kids party.