Tuck Everlasting

Adriana shared this great picture of Heather’s welcome sign!

Tuck Everlasting
Book Party hosted by Heather Leak

I love exploring new places, especially when they remind me of a book I have read. When my family explored a nearby cave and natural spring my mind immediately thought: “This looks just like Treegap! We need to host a Tuck Everlasting Kids Book Party here in August!” We set to reading the chapter book aloud as a family in July, holding pro/con discussions, exclaiming “we can do __ at the party”, and often begging for one.more.chapter before bed. I believe this story is interesting, imaginative, and valuable to a wide range of ages and faith beliefs. And one of our favorite quotes – “Don’t be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You don’t have to live forever, you just have to live.” – should inspire us all to grow, get out, explore, and enjoy life wherever we are.

Adriana shared this picture of the children enjoying the spring that comes out of the cave!

The Gathering
The location chose the book in this case: Berlin Spring near Lewisburg, TN. There is a tree grove, cave, and natural spring to explore. The park also has a parking lot, covered pavilion with electric outlets, and the lovely Berlin Market which sells delicious homemade food and general goods. I did give a general safety talk to the group when we first arrived since August is high season for poison ivy, poisonous snakes, and other creepy crawly critters. Children were reminded to stay with or ask their momma if they wanted to crawl inside and explore the cave which has a muddy floor with shallow water and low rock ceiling.

Any creek or water fall in the forest would make an ideal location for this book party, though. It all depends on your comfort level.

Amanda shared this picture of the best little market! Stop by for some good country cooking!

Food Ideas
Our family made several batches of flapjacks for a “pancake picnic” since the Tucks often ate flapjacks in the book. Other families brought fruit, butter, maple and homemade fruit syrups, drinks, and paper products. I suggest creating a signup genius for food contributions. Several of the kids showed off their best Jesse and Miles Tuck impressions by licking their plates and sticky fingers 🙂

Lara shared this picture of the yummy pancake meal!

Activities
● Pancake Picnic
● Group debate: Should Winnie drink the water or not?

Lara shared this picture of the party prop – should Winnie drink the water?

● “Winifred? FOSTER!” game of tag as you would play “Marco? POLO!”
○ Select one child to be blindfolded as Winnie’s grandmother in the middle of a
circle of moms. She shouts out “Winifred?” and the other children in the circle
reply “FOSTER!” and try not to be tagged by the grandmother. Once tagged, they
join the circle of moms.

Melissa shared this picture of the party in one of their games!

● Follow the Musicbox
○ Form a circle with one child blindfolded in the middle. Give a music box to one child on the circle to hold and see if the blindfolded friend can listen her way to the music. They gently tap the shoulder of the person they think is holding the music box. Switch children in the middle after each right/wrong tap. This is so magical to see the group cooperating quietly in the forest and listening for the music box as Winnie did throughout the story!