"Mother, can I have a party?" "Certainly," I answered our young son. Then I hesitated. Parties we would always had plenty of them. But now with the young son in High School, this wouldn't be any little boy affair.

"What kind of a party would you like?" I asked very casually.

"Oh there are about six fellows I would like to invite," he said, and added slowly, "and about six girls."

This could not be a dance because many of this crowd were not yet accomplished dancers; neither did they care much about bridge. But we can try anything once so I told him to invite the youngsters and we would plan games for their entertainment. Now I look back and wonder why all the dither. Just in case some of you are up against the same proposition let me tell you how it worked out.

John invited the girls by telephone and when each girl accepted he told her one of the boys would call for her. Then he invited the boys and asked each one to see that a certain girl arrived safely. This plan settled the couple problem to the satisfaction of all concerned.

The first game of the evening was "Amnesia." Beforehand we had written on slips of paper the names of famous people; movie stars, radio comedians, comic-strip characters, and the like. One of these slips was pinned on the back of each guest. The name on the slip was unknown to the one wearing it. According to the game, each guest had lost his memory and was to learn his identity himself. He was forbidden to remove the paper from his back or to look into a mirror. He could ask questions of the other guests, but only questions that could be answered by "yes" or "no". With everyone asking questions of everyone else the ice was soon broken. From then on the evening was a gay affair.

The next game proved to be so much fun; they asked to play it a second time. The players were all seated in a circle. John started a three-beat rhythm and everyone joined in. On the count of one, hands were all clapped on knees; on the count of two, hands were clapped together in front; and on the three, all snapped their fingers with arms outstretched parallel to their shoulders. At the count of three John named a common noun such as "elephant." Without breaking the one, two, three rhythm the girl next gave a noun beginning with "t" such as "teacher." The new word had to begin with "t" because that was the last letter of the previous word mentioned. The noun must be given on the third beat of the rhythm. The one who couldn't think of a noun quick enough dropped out of the game until the winner was finally determined.

Simple game with simple rules should be selected for a party. At the beginning of the party a simple game like Amnesia is always good to play to break the ice and make the entire youngster feel free and funny.