Ask Ollie
Mystery Stocking Touch and Guess
Here's one to try together!
Something festive is hiding in the stocking! Can you guess what it is using only your fingers?
Reviewed by our team.
Safety first
- small parts and bells are a choking risk; keep away from children under 3
- do not use sharp items (e.g. sharp-edged cookie cutters)
- candy cane is a food item; supervise and watch for allergies
- nothing sharp or glass goes in the stocking
What you need
- Rolled socks, 1
- Festive household items, about 10
- Paper bag, 1 (optional)
How to do it
Grown-up prep: Collect about 10 safe festive things from around the house and hide them in a bag so nobody sees them ahead of time.
- Choose who guesses first and who hides the surprise.
- Guesser, cover your eyes tight. No peeking!
- Hider, slip one secret item into the stocking.
- Reach in without looking and feel it all over. Ask: Is it soft, bumpy, smooth, cold or heavy?
- Say three words that describe what you feel.
- Make your big guess out loud! Ask: What do you think it is, and what made you think so?
- Pull it out and see if you were right!
- Swap jobs so the guesser becomes the hider.
- Twist time: hide two items together in the stocking!
- Now play with a friend or a grandparent, or find new mystery items! Ask: Which item was the trickiest to guess, and why?
Play it again
- Line-up match: lay the items out and have the guesser point to the one they felt.
- Hot or cold: the hider only says hot or cold as the guesser gets closer to the answer.
- Timer round: guess before a grown-up counts slowly to ten.
Kids loved this? There are more where it came from.
Get 3 free ideas a dayTurn "I'm bored" into "let's do something together!" 3 free ideas a day, picked for your kids.