Peanut Game

This is a great game for your child's next party or get-together. It teaches observational skills and group cooperation, and the only material you need to play is one little peanut! Children will also enjoy saying the fun rhymes that go along with the game, and while they're having fun, they'll learn how to follow rules and patiently wait to take turns.

What You Need:

• Peanut in the shell

What You Do:

1. Explain that the purpose of the activity is to guess who’s got the peanut.
2. Have everyone sit in a circle with their hands together behind them.
3. Pick one child to be the peanut passer. Give him the peanut and have him go around the outside of the circle and slide his hands through each of the other children’s hands.
4. Tell him to secretly pass off the peanut to one of the children in the group. To keep from giving away who received the peanut, have him continue until he has touched the hands of all the children. As he goes around the circle, encourage the other children to say the following chant:

5. Make sure all of the children keep their hands closed behind them even if they don’t have the peanut.
6. Then, starting with the person sitting to the right of the peanut passer, each child gets to make one guess about who has the peanut.
7. The guesses continue until the peanut is found. The child with the peanut then says the following chant:

8. Next, the child who guessed correctly takes a turn around the circle. Continue the game until each child has had a turn.

There are many variations of this game that can also be fun to try. You can have the children sit with their hands in front of them instead of behind them. Or, you can use an object that is much larger than a peanut. Both these variations make it easier to guess the object's location, and much more difficult for the children to hide it! Try a few variations and see which one the kids like best.