What you do for this ZOOMdo:
- These aren't crackers you eat, they're actually a party favor from England. People open up crackers around Christmas, and they're usually filled with a toy, a joke, and a paper hat. They've been a British tradition since the 1840s.
- To make your own, start by choosing some tissue or wrapping paper that you like.
- On one edge of the wrapping paper, tape a full-sized toilet paper tube and a tube cut in half. The full-sized roll should be in the middle, and the halves should be spaced about 1 1/2 to 2 inches on either side of it.
- Roll the tubes up inside the wrapping paper and tape the edges down so the tubes are completely covered.
- Gently twist the paper at one end of the tube. Tie a piece of string around where you've twisted the paper.
- Now fill your cracker with a paper crown, a joke, and a little toy. Make the crown by cutting a strip of paper that's the length of the circumference of your head. Then tape the ends together to make a big "O." Write a joke on a small piece of paper. (You can find some great ones at the ZOOMfunny section of this Web site.)
- Twist the open end of your cracker and tie it with another piece of string.
- To play with your crackers, have everyone stand in a circle and cross arms. Each player grabs an end of the cracker next to them. On the count of three, pull! Whoever is holding the long part of a cracker when it breaks wins the prizes inside.
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English Crackers
