Take a page right from favorite Dr. Seuss titles when planning party games or fun with family and friends. Look to The Cat in the Hat, Thidwick, the Big-Hearted Moose and Horton Hears a Who! for some delightful diversions beyond the books!
Musical Hats
Bring a little millenary madness to your party! You’ll need a group of kids, an equal number of hats minus one, and music. Arrange the hats in a circle on the floor, with the players standing outside of the circle. When the music starts, players begin walking around the circle. When the music stops, players grab a hat as fast as they can. The child without a hat is out of the game. Continue removing hats from the circle until just one hat and two players remain. The last player with the hat is the winner! Super-Seussify this game by reading Seuss titles aloud instead of playing music. Whenever you stop reading, players grab for a hat!
Bug, Bug, Moose
Kids will love this twist on “Duck, duck, goose” after a read aloud of Thidwick, the Big-Hearted Moose. After listening to the story, have players sit in a circle. One player starts the game by walking around the outside the circle, patting each person’s head or shoulder while saying, “Bug.” Then the walking player should tag a sitting player at random and say, “Moose.” This player should get up and try to catch the walking player before he or she is able to run around the circle and reach the spot that the “moose” got up from. If the tagger takes the seat, the “moose” goes around the circle and tags someone else. If the “moose” returns to his or her seat, the tagger goes around the circle again, identifying bugs until tagging a moose. For older children, you can use Thidwick’s story to add other animal names to the game.
Clover, Clover, Who’s Got the Clover?
Have players stand and form a circle with their hands behind their backs. Choose a player to be Horton and have that person stand in the center of the circle. Have everyone close his or her eyes. Provide the clover—a small pink pom-pom—to a player in the circle. Children in the circle then pass (or pretend to pass) the clover behind their backs, stopping at random. Horton has to guess where the clover is. Horton says, “Clover, clover, who’s got the clover?” and calls the name of one of the players in the circle. Horton continues questioning players until the clover is found. Once the clover is found, whoever had the clover then becomes the new Horton and play begins again. After everyone has had a turn as Horton, give children a clover of their own to hold while you read aloud Horton Hears a Who!