Adams Media - The Little Book for Dads: Stories, Jokes, Games, and More

Avon, Massachusetts

Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad.

UNKNOWN

The time you spend with your kids while theyre young is so precious and fleeting. Make the most of it with The Little Book for Dads! Its the perfect collection of timeless tidbits for you to share with your children. After all, some of your kids favorite childhood memories will come from the many things you teach them as you play, talk, and snuggle together:

• The best way to tie a fishing lure.
• How to play Kick the Can.
• Baseballs greatest all-time players.
• Bedtime stories filled with adventure.

On these pages, youll find a top-notch collection of jokes, sports lore, silly songs, hands-on activities, stories, and moreall of which help create magical memories your children will remember forever. Whether its the rules of Crazy Eights, a fun song to sing when youre stuck in traffic, or a bedtime story to send your little ones off to sleep, youll turn to this treasury again and again.

Take me out to the ball game,

Take me out with the crowd.

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,

I dont care if I never get back.

Let me root, root, root for the home team,

If they dont win, its a shame.

For its one, two, three strikes, youre out,

At the old ball game.

Hot cross buns!

Hot cross buns!

One a penny, two a penny,

Hot cross buns!

If you have no daughters,

Give them to your sons.

One a penny, two a penny,

Hot cross buns!

One, two, buckle my shoe;

Three, four, knock at the door;

Five, six, pick up sticks;

Seven, eight, lay them straight;

Nine, ten, a big, fat hen;

Eleven, twelve, dig and delve;

Thirteen, fourteen, maids a-courting;

Fifteen, sixteen, maids in the kitchen;

Seventeen, eighteen, maids a-waiting;

Nineteen, twenty, my plates empty.

This nostalgic craft is simple to make and fun to play with. Get ready for hours of entertainment and ingenuity with your tin-can telephone! Now youre talking!

Two tin cans, washed with the paper removed (be careful of sharp edges)

A piece of string

A hammer and a nail (and an adult!)

1. Turn the cans so the solid bottom is at the top. With the hammer and nail, make a hole in the bottom of each can just big enough for the string to get through.
2. Insert the string into each hole. Knot each end of the string inside each can.
3. Pull the string taut so that the knot is right up against the bottom of each can.
4. Now you can speak into one can while someone listens on the other end. The sound of your voice will vibrate across the string and into the other persons ear!

If you have three people, try this version of a good old-fashioned game of Monkey in the Middle. Two of you team up and try to keep possession of the ball while passing it back and forth. The third person does her best to get it away from you.

Pass the ball back and forth with your child. Its like playing catch, but with a soccer ball! Start by using two touches: youll catch the ball first and then pass it. Once you feel comfortable with that, you can graduate to one-touch passing. See how many times the ball can go back and forth accurately.

To play soccer golf, you first need a golf course. That doesnt mean you rush over to the local course and invade it with your soccer balls. You have to be creative. Go to a park and find holes, such as a tree, a fountain, a seesaw, and a statue. Play as many holes as you like.

Once your course is set up, its time to play. You and your child should both have a soccer ball. Its also handy to have a pencil and a piece of paper to keep score unless you have a really good memory. The first player tees off by kicking the soccer ball toward the goal. Then the next player goes. Count how many kicks it takes to hit the hole. Write that down as your score for that hole. At the end of your course, the player with the lowest score is the winner.

This is a good passing game for four players. Have two players line up on one line and two others stand across from them at a good passing distance for your level. Use two balls, one on each side. Now start passing the ball back and forth. The team who can get both balls on one side is the winner.

Red Light, Green Light has always been a great kids game, and you and your kids can play it with a soccer ball as well. One person is the traffic light at the far end of the field. The rest are the cars. They each have a ball. The player at the far end yells, Green light! and turns around. The cars all begin dribbling their balls until they hear the traffic light yell, Red light! at which point they all must put a foot on the ball. If any players cant put their foot on the ball because its too far away from them, then theyre sent back to the beginning. The winner (and next traffic light) is the player who crosses the field first. This really teaches you to keep the ball close yet still dribble quickly.

Before I got married I had six theories about raising children; now, I have six children and no theories.

JOHN WILMOT

Looking for a strategy game to play with your little ones? Crazy Eights involves thinking ahead and planning for your last discard. It also develops matching skills, following suit, and recognizing the value of cards.

To be the first person to discard all of the cards in your hand.

Two or more players are needed to play this game, and youll use a standard pack of fifty-two cards.

1. A dealer is randomly selected and deals five cards face down to each player, if there are more than two players, or seven cards if there are only two players. The remaining cards are then placed face down in a stockpile, accessible to everyone in the playing area. The top card is turned face up and placed next to the stack of cards to start the discard pile.
2. The game begins with the player to the dealers left. If the first card turned over in the discard pile is an eight, the player chooses a suit and then discards a card of that suit from his hand. If the card is not an eight, the player discards a card of that suit or of that value from her hand. For instance, if the top card is 6, you may discard a six of any suit or any diamond.