Holly Wood Squares Review Game - Puppet Style

I saw a great review game with puppets on the I Love Kidmin Facebook page this week. So today, KidFrugal will feature our first guest post. I think it is Matthew's first blog post too. I kind of roped him into it! Here it is:


Something I've done with puppets to help review lessons is a "puppet tic- tac-toe" game that is based on the old "Hollywood Squares" TV show. Usually it is boys vs. girls.

Each team has a "spokesperson" who - with the help of his or her team - picks which puppet "star" to ask a question. The puppet is then asked a question about the lesson (usually by the teacher or whoever is playing the emcee). Then that team has to decide if the puppet answered the question correctly or not (the team spokesperson relays the teams answer).

If the puppet gave the correct answer to the question and the team agrees, they get the square. If the puppet gave the wrong answer and the team agrees - they do not get the square. Finally, if the puppet gave the correct answer but the team disagrees, they don't get the square. The team that gets three squares in a row wins!

To play it Hollywood Squares style, you can use a board like the one pictured and then tape an X or O on top of the square. You can also draw a tic-tac-toe board on a blackboard, dry erase board or poster board and just write in the X's and O's as you go. If you make a board, you can laminate it or cover it with clear contact paper and reuse it.

In my case, I do all the puppet voices (mostly old TV star impersonations) and the kids know the characters. But you could have several people behind a puppet stage since only one puppet comes up at a time. It is lots of fun.

I try to mix the responses up so sometimes the puppet gives a right answer and sometimes a wrong answer. It is also great if you can improvise and use a lot of humor. Always a fun way to review!

This can be played with less than 9 puppets - it can even be done with just one puppet that takes all questions. The object is still the same - 3-in-a-row tic-tac-toe.

One could even do it without puppets and have a person (or persons) answer the questions. How about the elders or deacons or another group of adults you want the kids to get to know?

Thanks to Matthew Chandler for this idea and post. Matthew has been writing and performing puppet shows for over 30 years - ever since someone at church said "we have a bunch of puppets nobody uses - how about you?" You can follow his puppet antics on his Bugs 2 Blue Whales Facebook page.