Catch That Lolly Man!

Dear Santa letters are over filling mail boxes, stores are playing Christmas carols, children are buzzing with excitement and anticipation and parents are being all sneaky sneaky… yes it’s that time of year again… Christmas Time!

Christmas for me as a child was one of the best days of the year, apart from my birthday of course. Now that I have children of my own, it’s all about making Christmas special for them. Giving them that smile that makes their cheeks sore, that present they have been asking for all year, and even making a big mess in the kitchen with the cookies and milk we leave for Santa and his Reindeers.

This year we are having a home Christmas instead of travelling to see family, which is nice to have sometimes. However since we won’t have as many people coming to Christmas Day, we decided to put our thinking caps on and come up with some fun ideas to keep the children and the excitement of Christmas day going. Things such as eating all day, swimming in the pool and such are normal, so this year we decided to put on a Christmas Play, Build a Gingerbread Man House and one I’m really looking forward to “Catch the Lolly Man”.

I remember chasing a lolly man as a child, but for the life of me can’t remember where or why.

Maybe we were just a bunch of aggressive children and attacked a man in overalls that had lollies…

Either way, it gave me a great idea and to those who have the energy should try it, so worth it! The laughs will be endless!

 

Lots of individually wrapped lollies!

'Christmas Catch Lolly Man Game'

 

 

Aim of the Game

 

 The children have to catch the lolly man if they wish to have the lollies he has sewn on him. You don’t want to sew them on to tightly or else it will be too hard to rip them off, especially if the Lolly Man is fast and makes the children work for their sweets. We played with one Lolly Man and about 12 children, but this year will be just 3 children.

There is no limit, all depends on how much sewing or stapling you wish to do.

 

You will need

 --> A pair of long overalls (I bought mine from a second hand shop for $2)

--> Lots and Lots of packeted Lollies or candy canes (Must be in individually packeted or it won’t work)

--> A sewing needle and some thread or Stapler and staples

(we chose the stapler and staples to save about 6 years of sewing)

 

--> Scissors

 

--> A video camera to tape the fun for later.

 

Get Comfy and Start Sewing or Stapling!

Sewing the Lolly Man Suit

If you aren’t making this game a surprise, get the children to help you! I did.

Lay the overalls down flat on the ground, and grab one lolly in its wrapper sewing only one or two loose loops onto the overalls or staple but again only one end. That way the lollies will be easier to rip off and will swing as the Lolly Man runs around (until he eventually gets tackled!)

Keep sewing the lollies all around the overalls, as many or as little as you like but mainly on the back and sides. You don’t want to encourage the children trying to dive at the knees and a crazy collision happens! 

Once it’s finished you have a Lolly Man Suit… Easy! To make it easier, use a pair of scissors and make some small slits in the overalls that way you can insert the stapler and continue to fill the lolly man suit up all over rather than just on the edges. (Just inform the person wearing the suit to wear clothes underneath as well)

 

Pick the person who is going to run around like a crazy man (In our case will be my brother or husband) trying to avoid aggressive children wanting their sweets, and bam! You have not only entertained the children but the adults who are watching as well, so don’t forget your camera.   

 

The Cat  is an extra addiction and optional.       

 

I cant wait to see the kids chasing the Lolly Man on Christmas Day, let alone my brother (designated Lolly Man Suit Driver) run from 3 aggressive Lolly Chasing Children...

 

Bring on Christmas Day!       

 

If you want to see more from "Its all about the Little Peeps"... Click Here!

 

Or to head back and see bits of everything click here!

 

If you decided to make this for Christmas or another event, feel free to share your photo's and stories with me! I'd love to hear them. If you know of someone who would love to do this, then definitely share this with them!

 

 

 

Do You Ever Stop And Listen?

The worst thing about fighting your daughter is that it is basically fighting yourself! My 10 year old is a spitting image of me apparently (although I can’t see it) but there’s no denying she’s got my attitude through and through. We will be mid argument and she will give me “The Look”, or the Jerry Springer head roll or side slant, for which I apparently am known for and all of a sudden it’s like someone has switched my channel and I’m arguing with myself.  

While having a mini me is sometimes “Hair pulling, scream the house down, want to stomp my feet at nearly 30”… Other times it’s great. (All of a sudden I realise I must be a handful to live with… must check with the husband later).  As a child I loved school work, not school just the challenge of the work, and so does she, which is great. She pulls straight A’s at the end of each year, smashes her assignments and one afternoon her punishment for giving her brothers the answers to their homework was “No homework for you for a week!”… While other children would jump for joy, she was not impressed!

So today is Sunday, a nice mellow Sunday, yet my daughter – Miss A. decided she wanted to do some school work. After realizing I wasn’t going to win the “It’s a Sunday lets relax” argument, I gave her 2 assignments to do. 

1.       A sum:  How many minutes in 3 weeks; without using a calculator or computer. No later than 2 Minutes had passed and she came waltzing up to me with the correct answer… 30 240 minutes in 3 weeks. 

 

2.       A Short Essay on “Do you ever stop and listen?”… I didn’t tell her any more than that; I wanted to see how she interpreted it. This was her answer…

Do You Ever Stop and Listen?

By Miss A. (10 Years Old)

Do you ever stop and listen to the sounds the Earth throws at us? It might be when you are in the shower or even under a tree but there are always different sounds.

Next time you are taking a ride on a bike, just stop for a second and listen.

When you are in a park on your own, you may even be thinking what is that sound? Well listen. It may be the most beautiful sound, birds chirping or trees swaying. Even though they are everyday sounds, they each have a long story to tell.

Sometimes when I lay down in bed I close my eyes and just listen. I Listen to the crickets, laughing of people, trees and birds or even snoring. Then you forget about it, go back to listening again and there is a completely new sound.

While it’s not that enjoyable listening to your brothers argue, or baby shows on television it’s still a sound.

Sounds like wind and water, laughter and happiness, birds and crickets… They are the sounds you hear when you stop and listen…

Listening to the sounds of the waves.

While I didn’t give her any angle to write her short story/essay on, she nailed it and understood it as I had hoped. Proud Mama right there... Although I was secretly prepared for a “Do you ever just stop and listen, geez!!!” kind of article, since that’s sometimes how the cookie crumbles.  

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