The Mane Event - "Lion, Lion, Hyena!"

The children started arriving shortly before 1:00. One mother asked me if there was anything that she could help with, but there really wasn't -- it was simply faster for me to 'keep on keeping on' then to stop and explain to someone what the last few details were that I was trying to finish.

Thankfully, I had a stroke of genius, and had planned for the first activity to be "Lion, Lion, Hyena!" (think "Duck, Duck, Goose!"), and the kids were really excited to start playing (and thankfully, KEEP playing) this game. It was also a good choice because it's really easy for more kids to join in. I was thankful that most of the kids were watching to see who hadn't had a turn yet, and tried to pick them whenever possible. Of course, there were a few kids who didn't want to play, or wanted to take a break from playing, but they were very content to watch.

Also, as each child arrived they received a name tag to wear around their neck. It had their name (of course!), a picture of a lion colored in mostly un-liony colors (red, orange, green & blue), and 6 empty squares. The lion determined which team they were on, and the squares were for the stickers that they collected as they moved from one activity to another.

Nicole M. takes a turn being the 'Lion' as we wait for more kids to arrive.

Marissa is the Lion, and Sara takes a break to watch rather than play.

Approximately 20 kids had arrived by this point.