Oooh, I love this game so much. I expect you and your groups will too.
The instructions can seem a little daunting at first, but stick with ’em – they are simple once you get the hang of it.
Start by forming a circle with about 12 to (no more than) 20 people, possibly sitting, but standing works too. Armed with one of your favourite soft toys in hand, include yourself in the circle.
In my experience, I have found greater success by announcing that the interaction that my group is about to witness between me and my partner will form the basis for all interactions from this point forward, with just one exception (and that comes later.) This will pique their interest and, hopefully, memory banks, too.
Turn to your left-hand neighbour and state quite plainly “THIS IS A WHAT” while showing off the soft toy in your hand.
Then, guide your partner to respond by saying a little incredulously, “A WHAT?”
You then reply with something even more incredulous, something like “A MERRY MILKY MOO-MOO.” The name is irrelevant, but make it fun to say.
With a little encouragement, ask your partner to receive the toy and say with great delight as if the penny just dropped “… AHHH, A MERRY MILKY MOO-MOO.”
Or, in short-hand, the exchange looks like this:
- You – “THIS IS A WHAT.”
- Partner – “A WHAT?”
- You – “THIS IS A MERRY MILKY MOO-MOO”
- Partner – “AHHH, A MERRY MILKY MOO-MOO!”
Hopefully, having absorbed this set of simple exchanges, your group can move to the next step as part of your efforts to work your way around the entire circle.
Ask your partner to turn to their left-hand neighbour and repeat the process (see above,) but…
Immediately after the new person responds with their incredulous “A WHAT?” question, (you) interrupt this exchange and instruct your partner (the one with the toy) to resist the urge to answer it and instead, direct the question to the person on their right, … you.
That is, the new person says “A WHAT?” and then the person still holding the soft toy turns to you and asks “A WHAT?” as if they have forgotten the answer and then you respond with “A MERRY MILKY MOO-MOO.”
In short, every time a new partner responds with “A WHAT?” this question is passed between the person holding the toy one at a time until it reaches you. You respond with a matter-of-fact “A MERRY MILKY MOO-MOO” and your partner turns to their partner and repeats this to them.
Finally, the newest person in this chain of events exclaims “AHHH, A MERRY MILKY MOO-MOO!” before turning to their left-hand neighbour (who has not been involved until now) to repeat the process anew.
Pulling all of this together, this sequence of exchanges may sound like this:
- Partner 1 – “THIS IS A WHAT”
- Partner 2 – “A WHAT?”
- Partner 1 – “A WHAT?” (directed to you)
- You – “A MERRY MILKY MOO-MOO.”
- Partner 1 – A MERRY MILKY MOO-MOO.”
- Partner 2 – AHHH, A MERRY MILKY MOO-MOO!”
- Partner 2 to Partner 3 – “THIS IS A WHAT.” (directed to Partner 3)
Got it? Hopefully, we’ll have a Video Tutorial to demonstrate this process with a real live group soon.
Jumping ahead a little, by the time this sequence of interactions reaches halfway around the circle, you will be witnessing and hearing a lot of “A WHAT?s” and “MERRY MILKY MOO-MOO’s” back and forth between you and whoever happens to be holding the toy.
This sequence of responses and passing of soft toys continues all the way around the circle until the person on your right finally turns to you and says “THIS IS A WHAT?”
You could ask “A WHAT?” in return (thereby setting in action a series of exchanges back and forth around the circle) but in most cases a simple “INDEED IT IS” is suffice and everyone will release a huge sigh of relief.
Have fun.
The flourish of exclaiming in delight “AHHH, A MERRY MILKY MOO-MOO!” really does help to punctuate the never-ending series of “A WHATs.”
Don’t make your circles too big (ie more than 20 people) lest it gets a bit boring for many people just waiting their turn.
Conjoining several tongue-twisting words together to form a name makes the game all the more hilarious to watch and be a part of. For the record, the moniker Merry Milky Moo-Moo was the name of one of my favourite cow beanie-babies that were all the rage in the 1990s. My other two go-go beanie toys are a Furry Friendly Frog and a Plush Purple Platypus.
Quite honestly, I do not often present this game all the way to “the end,” ie where every person has received the toy for the first time. I make a judgement call about the level of enthusiasm of my group – together with the potential for confusion and/or boredom – and announce a halt to proceedings when I think the fun has reached a crescendo.
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Have you played this activity? What worked, what didn't work? What type of group? Do you have useful advice for other users? Do you know a fun variation?