The Minister's Cat

Number: any number
Age: 8 upwards (younger children might enjoy this with a little help)
Time: 5 minutes
Adult supervision: helping younger players with useful hints

Not exactly a 'mouse' game but is an old favourite for those who like alphabet games and a cat is linked to a mouse.

It is not a bousterous game and could well be used as a calming down game.

The purpose of the game is to be able to describe the minister's cat with adjectives that begin with the first letter of the alphabet and then all the others one by one.

In the first round, the aim will be to describe the cat using the letter 'A'. The first player might begin by saying: 'The minister's cat is an amber cat.' Then the next player might say that 'The minister's cat is an angry cat.' The third might say: 'The minister's cat is an attacking cat.'

And the game continues round the all the players until every player has described the cat using the first letter. Then the next round will use the letter 'B' such as 'bald', 'black', 'bad', 'beastly', and so on.

Some letters will be easier than others (and X and Z are best left out altogether).

A variation for younger players might prefer to play a simplified form in which each player thinks of an adjective beginning with a different letter of the alphabet. The first starts with A, the second has B and so on. This will make the game easier and quicker.

Helping out with a few gentle hints, makes the full version more playable with younger children; 'What is a cat when it has no hair?' for example.