involve some Hershey kisses hidden around the house. Kind of like Bedikat Chametz, but not with bread. Are you asking me if I am nuts? Cause I am pretty sure my mom will when she reads this. But bear with me. This is what we are going to do:
2. Glue the pictures to index cards and write a clue* on the back. This way kids that know how to read can read the clues and kids that do not yet know how to read can look at the pictures.
3. The night before the treasure hunt, hide your cards, reserving the first clue card to actually hand to the kids. For example, I think my kids will start with the toy box. Since there will be three kids playing, I will hide three Hershey kisses in the toy box. Their job will be to dump out the toys, look for half eaten pretzels and crumbled cookies - and to find their kisses.
Sorry to dissapoint, but this will all have to involve some form of parental involvement, unless you believe that your kids will actually clean without just eating their chocolates. Mine are pretty young so I can't imagine that would be the case. Hey, forget about being young - I would just sit and eat the chocolates too, shoving them into my mouth with one hand while shoving all the toys back in the toy box without checking for any crumbs whatsoever. But I feel like just getting them involved in the cleaning is an important life lesson, working together as a team, helping out at home, blah blah blah. Just like they know that they cannot have dessert on Shabbat if they do not help clear the table first.
Will your house be all clean for Pesach once this game is played? No, not by a long shot. But I do believe that the kids will be more willing to not bring chametz into the living room or playroom if they know that they have already worked hard cleaning the room. Kind of like when one of the kids will spontaneously clean the toys up and then get very upset when a sibling takes out a toy to play with: "I just cleaned that! Why are you messing it up?!" And that's not even me yelling, it's the cleaner kid himself! A little validation for mommy is always a good thing.
1. Toy box: "I am a big blue box where things are stored, I am so full, there's no room for more."
2. Under the couches: "At clean up time, when you think Mommy can't see, you push things underneath me."
3. Toy shelves in the porch/playroom: "We live in the porch and our color is peach, sometimes we hold things that are just out of your reach."
4. Backpacks: "I go to school with you every day, and you carry me on your back. When you come home, you are supposed to hang me on the coat rack."
5. Coat pockets: "I keep your hands from being cold, and also, sticky lollipops, crumbs and maybe even some dirt and rocks, I do hold.
5. Dresser drawers: "I hold all your shirts, pajamas and socks, I am shaped like a rectangle and I look like a big white box."
6. Under their beds: "Look under me, look all the way, I'll bet there are a bunch of lost toys here that you'll be so happy to see."