In planning programs for children's groups it is well to alternate lively games with quiet ones. A nice game to play Thanksgiving afternoon is called "Thanksgiving." The players sit in a circle and each one names a word beginning with "T" and ending with "G". The same word cannot be given twice. For instance one may say "Tag," the second "Telling," etc. If player fails to think of a word when his turn comes he drops out of the game. At the end of the game the player remaining is the winner.



It is a good plan to follow a thinking game with an action game. "Electric Shock" is such a game and goes this way: The players line up in two equal rows facing each other. The youngsters in each line join hands. When the whistle blows the first in each line presses the hand of the person next to him; the second person then presses the hand of the third person in line, and so on down the line. As soon as the last player in each line has been reached he holds his hand over his head.

For children familiar with common musical terms the following game is entertaining. Players should be supplied with paper and pencils unless it is played orally. Each sentence or phrase can be completed with a musical term.

Answers

People live in it. Flat

Used in describing a razor. Sharp

Furniture in a store. Counters

Often passed in school. Notes

A person at ease. Natural

Used in fishing. Lines

What one breathes. Air

A part of a sentence. Phrase

Found on a fish. Scales

Another name for a cane. Staff

Shown by a clock. Time

What we should do at night. Rest

Something for a door. Key

A kind of tar. Pitch

A hilarious game is called "Bumpily, bump, bump, bump." The crowd gathers in a circle. The leader gets in the center and starts the game off. She walks up to some person unexpectedly and with her hands at her ears, flapping them like a donkey's, she says very rapidly "Bumpity, bump, bump, bump." The person before whom she stands is supposed to count five before she finishes. If he fails to do so, he takes her place in the center of the circle and she takes his and the game continues. Youngsters think this is good sport.

Siamese singing is always a riot. It will be necessary to have six or seven copies of the words for this song. Give them to one group of the children and ask them to sing the following words to the tune of America:

"O wa ta goo Siam O wa ta goo Siam. O wa ta goos O wa ta goo Siam O wa ta goo Siam O wa ta goo Siam O wa ta goos."

It won't take the youngsters long to realize they are singing "Oh what a goose I am." The other youngsters can then sing the following words, also to the tune of America:

"So say we all of us Every last one of us So say we all, So say we all of us."

I hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving Day games.

A game like letting them to sing a song in American tune, initially the children may feel shy to sing, but after several repetitions it will surely work out and prove to be the best game.