Count Your Chickens

Count Your Chickens - Kids work together toward a common goal.

Count Your Chickens is a simple, straight-forward, farm-themed cooperative game. The baby chicks have flown the coop. Mama hen needs help collecting them all and bringing them back to the chicken coop. Players will take separate turns, but work together to return the chicks to the coop before mother hen gets to the end of the path.

The game board has 40 spaces between start and the chicken coop at the top of the board. The spinner is made of very sturdy cardboard and the arrow moves freely. The pictures on the spinner are pig, dog, sheep, tractor, cow and fox. The small chick tokens are fairly small circles with a picture of a chick on them. They measure 3/4" in diameter. They are thin and may be difficult to pick up for some. In that case, maybe you could allow the person to put their finger on the piece and push it to the coop. All pieces are shown in the image below.

Something I like about this game is that the rules are printed on the inside of the box cover. They will be hard to misplace!

Object: 

Get all the chicks into the chicken coop before mother hen reaches the coop.

Set up:

Place the board between the players. Scatter the baby chicks around the board but not on the path. Place mother hen on start. Place the spinner nearby.

Play:

Taking turns, each player will spin the spinner and move mother hen to the next space that matches the picture where the arrow landed on the spinner. Count the number of spaces as you move and then pick up that many chicks (off the board) and place them in the chicken coop. There are a few blue spaces on the board that picture an animal PLUS a baby chick. If you land on one of those spaces, collect an extra chick and place it in the coop with the others. If you spin the fox, you do not get to move mother hen plus you must take one chick out of the coop and put it back on the board.The game ends when the mother chicken reaches the coop or all the chick tokens end up in the chicken coop, whichever comes first. If the chicks all end up in the coop first, you and your team have won the game. If mother hen gets to the coo but there are some chicks that have not made it into the coop yet, you have lost.

Try this:

• Work on cooperation, visual discrimination, manual dexterity, coordinated use of both hands, finger isolation, flicking a spinner, counting spaces and advancing around a game board, socialization skills, process skills, executive functioning skills, play and leisure exploration and participation 
• Squirrel the chicks into your palm as you pick them up off the board.
• Push the chicks out of your hand, bringing them to the fingertips one at a time, before dropping them into the coop.
• Look for a nice rounded web space as you prepare to flick the arrow on the spinner.
• Use different fingers to flick the spinner.
• Hold the spinner in one hand and flick with the other, instead of leaving it on the table top.
• Allow the person who needs practice with the spinner to spin for everyone.
• Sing Old MacDonald at the end of the game to celebrate your win. With a cluck cluck here and a peep peep there...

In the box: Game board, spinner, mother hen with stand, 40 baby chicks

If you are interested in purchasing this item or just want more information, click on the image below.

Prank Star

To prank or not to prank. That is the question today.

Prank Star is a book that I stumbled onto years ago and that I have used several times. I often pull it out around April Fool's Day to talk to my kids about pranking, which is playing a trick or a practical joke on someone. Tricks and practical jokes can be harmless and fun, or downright mean or dangerous, and it's important to know the difference. My book has a cockroach on the front, not a fly like in the image above.

When I was a kid, we used to visit my grandma in Nebraska every year. Not too far from where she worked was what we called "the souvenir store". One of the best parts of this store was all the tricks that they sold, and we made sure we walked to the store every trip. My favorite item, that I had for many years, was the can of nuts with the jumping snakes. Inside was three beans that rattled in the bottom to make you think there were nuts inside.The unusual looking and sized metal can, with the picture of peanuts on the front, fooled no one. Everyone knew it wasn't a can of nuts, but they weren't sure what it was. In the end curiosity won out and most opened that can. Two cloth covered wire snakes jumped out, startling the unsuspecting victim. A few years ago I found a plastic jellybean jar with the same type of snakes that I bring out during these discussions. Still fun today. I have also seen, but not bought, harmless pranks at the dollar store on many occasions, including fake vomit, doggie doo, whoopee cushions, spilled ink, and flies encased in plastic ice cubes.

This item is a small book. Inside the book are the rules of pranking, instructions for a variety of pranks to pull, a few random stickers, a small book of certificates that you can fill out and reward to the person who has been pranked and a few jokes. Rules of pranking:

1. Never prank a stranger. You should only prank people you know and like.
2. Don't prank unless you're happy to be pranked in return.
3. If someone doesn't appreciate your prank, don't prank them again.
4. Don't make a mess that you can't clean up.
5. Pranking should be fun, not dumb.

 Some of the pranks include:

• Bugs - Put fake bugs around the house. These can be bought at the dollar store and some look quite real, or use the one that comes with the book. Make sure you fess up BEFORE your parents call an exterminator.
• Fake band-aid - Place some glue on the outside, padded part of a band-aid. Place a little ketchup on top of it and let it dry. Put it on when you need to get out of washing the dishes.
• Fake vomit - Put some glue on a piece of plastic wrap. Drop in a few cookie crumbs and maybe some yellow or green food color. Let it dry and then peel it off the plastic wrap. Carry it with you for a quick excuse to get out of, well, most anything.
• Computer calamity - Tape a small piece of paper on the bottom of a computer mouse, covering the ball or the optic sensor.

Some fun ideas that shouldn't get you into too much trouble.

Try this:

• Read about (or even try) a harmless prank in this book to start a discussion on appropriate and inappropriate practical jokes and pranks.
• Stress that not everyone enjoys pranks and that some people are embarrassed when pranked in front of others. Also some people just don't like the unexpected. Know your subject and DO NOT prank someone who would not enjoy it or think it funny. If you're not sure, don't do it.
• Pick up a few examples at the dollar store to show and tell.
• Discuss how they would feel if they were pranked and how they would respond.
• Talk about the many benefits of being able to laugh at yourself.