Children love to be sneaky….or sometimes just to think that they’re being sneaky. Here’s a play on a sneaky old guessing game that is perfect for a group of youngsters in the fall!
This is a variation of “Button, Button, Who Has the Button”. Have the children sit in a circle. Have one child stand in the center and close her eyes. Hand a mini pumpkin to one child and have him hide it behind his back. Have all the other children sneakily pretend to hide a pumpkin by putting their hands behind their backs also. When everyone’s ready, the child in the center opens her eyes and the whole group says, “Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Who Has the Pumpkin?” The center child guesses and if it’s an incorrect guess, that child lifts up his empty hands to show there was no pumpkin. At this point, you can have the center child just keep guessing, or you – or the child she chose- can give a clue about the person who does have the pumpkin. “A girl has the pumpkin,” or “This person has on a striped shirt.” It all depends on your group and whether or not they’re ready to give or use clues. Once the pumpkin is discovered, choose another person to be in the center and another to hide the pumpkin and start again. Try to give everyone a turn! And just enjoy playing together!
Group games such as these build pro-social skills as the children take turns and learn simple procedures to group games. They also build cognitive reasoning skills as they make guesses and provide clues.
You may want to precede this activity with another from the Fall Favorites page, such as the Surprise Pumpkin, the Five Little Pumpkins Fingerplay, or a great book!
Top photo provided by mOrnizstar.
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