Thursday, December the 18th, 2008

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Plums In The Puddle

This is an outdoor game that will bring gleeful smiles to tinies and adults alike. Buy a bag of plums from the greengrocer's and whistle as you and your family stride purposefully to a place of puddles. It might be a canal towpath or a field or even a derelict shopping precinct, and there need only be a single puddle. Take the plums out of the bag and distribute them to the family members so that everyone has the same number. If the numbers of persons and plums do not match up, you can either put the plums back into the bag and go back to the greengrocer's to buy some more, or have one or more family members carted away by the secret police. Once you have that settled, the game can begin. Each takes their turn to throw their plum or plums into the puddle. If someone's plum misses the puddle, and lands on the towpath or the grass or the concrete, they can either take their turn again, or pay a forfeit, such as being carted away by the secret police. When all the plums are bobbing about in the puddle, the game is over and you can all go home, taking a short detour past the secret police interrogation centre to attempt to retrieve any family members who have been carted there. This will usually be pointless, however, as the secret policeman at the gate will deny any knowledge of your family members and insist that the interrogation centre is but an innocent warehouse or office building. Do not become jumpy or ill-tempered with the secret policeman or you are likely to become an unperson, after a period of interrogation, and you won't be throwing any plums into a puddle ever again.