Candy Land!

Always in search of something new and different to do with the teens, this week we promised "Candy Land - like you have never played it before." To begin with, we had the game board:

Thank-you, Mykela and James, for taping all of those down!

The finish line:

Yes, the same castle we used for the Fancy Nancy Tea Party - why reinvent the wheel?!

The instructions:

And the game pieces:

The crowns weren't part of the game, they were just feeling special :)

We always have snacks for Teen Cafe (whispery voiceover: if you feed them, they will come) but didn't want everyone traipsing back and forth and losing their place. We decided you could get drinks when you reached the Gumdrop Mountains, and snacks (lots of candy, of course) at the Lollipop Woods. We chose not to feature every single part of the game, mainly because of our limited artistic talents!

In the regular-sized game (in case it has been a few decades since you played), players take turns picking cards to tell them where to move next (not a great game of strategy, Candy Land). With 40 or more kids spread throughout the room, this would have been a logistical nightmare. We had one basket with the color cards, and then one with strips that read things like, "If your birthday is in April," or "If you were a junior last year." We drew one descriptive card and one color card, and our announcer read those out, then the kids moved accordingly. That worked pretty well - everyone was bunched up at first, but got spread out fairly quickly. If you are interested in doing this yourself, let us know, and we'll give some tips on the descriptors.

The pink character spaces were photocopied and blown up, and they kept things from getting too predictable - a couple times someone almost reached the end, then got sent back to "the chick with the cupcake" (Miss Ami had trouble remembering any characters' names). The only problem? We got so involved in the game, we completely forgot to take pictures during! Here is one of our winners, enjoying the spoils along with another participant:

We had twelve giant lollipops, so about 1/3 of the players won something. We just played until the lollipops were gone. The other problem? Miss Ami liked using the microphone. A lot. She says she wants it available during all Teen Cafes. We aren't so sure that is necessary - or a good idea - but we have the feeling we are going to lose this one.