ST. VALENTINE GAMES.
A Valentine Hunt.
This should be given early in the evening, as it removes shyness and establishes good fellowship.
Hide as many small valentines as there are children, and give five minutes to hunt for them. Those finding more than one should put the extra ones on a table, and the children not finding any are then blindfolded and allowed to draw one each.
Rose Guess.
Present a large rose and let each child guess how many petals it contains. When all have guessed, pick the petals off, counting them as they fall. The nearest guesser receives a prize. An appropriate prize would be a bonbon box filled with candied rose leaves.
Rose Bowl Game.
Put on a small table, a mat of pink crinkled tissue paper, and in the centre stand a cut-glass rose-bowl. The bowl should be covered with huge pink rose petals, made of paper, inverted as though the rose were held in the bowl, the petals all meeting in the green calyx, which covers the opening of the bowl. Through the calyx, narrow green ribbons representing rose stems should appear. Each child, at a signal, should come to the table and draw one of the “stems.” On the end of each will be found a pink candy heart, and to one of these hearts will be fastened a tiny love-knot ring.
The Walnut’s Fortune.
Open a quantity of walnuts in half. Into each walnut slip a narrow piece of paper which will predict the future. Slip a small elastic over each nut, which will prevent them from reopening. The boys’ walnuts should be put in one basket, and the girls’ in another. The girls’ basket should be offered first. As each girl holds her hand over the basket she should repeat: