Special Note:
- when playing
with very young children who do not have much group game experience,
break the game down into manageable parts and focus on the parts rather
than the game to begin with
- practise
passing an object from one person to the next in circle formation
be sure to go both clockwise and counterclockwise for right-handed
and left-handed children
- then practise
wiggling fingers in front and on the tambourine cue, quickly hiding
them behind their backs
- then introduce
the idea of someone trying to guess who has a certain object by getting
children to pass the object while you are still looking hit the tambourine,
encourage them all to quickly hide their hands and then proceed to
try and guess which child has the object by asking everyone but the
one who has it
(save them for last)
- once the
children understand all parts of the game, they will be ready to play
the real version
You will need:
- a play space
large enough for all children to sit in a circle
- two mittens
- a tambourine
What to do:
- children sit
in a circle
- one child is
in the centre with one mitten on with his/her eyes shut
- the children
in the circle pass the other mitten around from one child to the next
- the leader strikes
the tambourine and all children in the circle hide their hands behind
their backs including the one with the other mitten
- the child in
the middle must then open his/her eyes and try to guess who has his/her
other mitten
- when the middle
child guesses correctly, whoever had the other mitten now trades places
and sits in the centre with only one mitten and with his/her eyes
closed
- the game continues
until all children have had a turn in the middle