Hoop-la hustler

This evening we all attended the school carnival which took place in the sunshine outside on the playground.  Since the school takes children from five years-old up to eleven there was a wide range of games and activities to suit all tastes, with a bit of a bias towards the younger end, but whatever age, everyone seemed to be having a good time . 

As a veteran of many a playgroup/infant school/fall fair I was happy to note a few nice variants on some old themes.  Instead of a lucky dip, there was "pick a pocket" (a woman in a long skirt with about fifteen pockets to "pick" from - each had a small prize inside).  Instead of face-painting there was nail-painting - much simpler yet incredibly popular (mix and match up to three colours!).  The most popular game of all was the cake walk - do we play that in Britain? I can't remember.  A sort of musical chairs, but  instead of chairs you step on numbered mats and if you are on the right one when that number is called you win a cake.  Kids were queueing for miles for that one.

Games were paid for in tickets, and if you won you received tickets in a different colour that could be exchanged for prizes.  The Girl did what she always does - identified the game she could most easily win and invested all her play-tickets in that.  Tonight it was a hoop-la.  She then converted her fistful of win-tickets into a haul of gotta-have plastic items.  Lately the Man and I have both been reading Bringing Down the House, based on the true story of a group of MIT students who worked out how to make millions hustling at blackjack.  Having watched our daughter in action tonight, we're beginning to wonder what sort of career she might be in training for...