eZine 06.27.2000

TheSource4YM.com
	Jonathan’s Resource Ezine

Weekly Resources, Ideas and Articles from The Source for Youth Ministry
Tuesday, June 27, 2000

In This Issue

• All the Hype About Chubby Bunnies: To choke… or not to choke, that is the question
  
  
• I Can’t Believe This is a Game!
  
  

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All the Hype About Chubby Bunnies: To choke… or not to choke, that is the question

by Jonathan McKee
June 27, 2000

Most of you have played the game Chubby Bunnies, the game where you stuff numerous marshmallows in kids’ mouths until they can’t say Chubby Bunnies anymore. Well, this game is raising a stink, as apparently, some kids died playing the game. To make matters worse, Oprah brought the parents on her show and talked about it. She made everyone aware that “churches actually play this game for fun!” The audience all nodded their heads in disgust.

The Jonathan’s Resources Web Site has had the game Chubby Bunnies in it’s database since before all this hype. So- I’ve been getting e mails asking me to remove it from my list. Part of me says, “I’ve been playing this game with kids for years and I’ve never seen a kid come close to danger.” The other part recalls when I was putting my own children in car seats, some “older” people commenting, “I never used those things with my kids and they turned out just fine.” I’m not about to drive anywhere without my 2 year old in her car seat!

Regardless, I enjoy these responses I get- so I’ll share them anonymously with you (these are exactly how they came- no spelling corrections made):

Jonathan, I noted Chubby Bunnies was on your game list. It went off ours permanently after an area teen choked to death playing it a year or so ago. You might want to read “Better Safe than Sued” by Jack Crabtree, then revisit the “food” games on your site.

Jonathan, I don’t know if you are aware of this or not. I was watching Oprah and heard the story of a little girl who died while playing the game chubby bunnies at her school. I don’t think the game is worth the risk.

Jonathan, thanks for your great list of games. You might want to take the Chubby Bunnies idea off your website. Many children playing the game have died because the melted marshmallows cuts off their air pipe and they can’t breathe. I hope this is helpful information.

Jonathan, I can across the Chubby Bunny one. Not to long ago we ( the youth group) went to a youth rally and one of the games was chubby bunny. As the youth continued to stuff marshmallows in their mouth, I didn’t take long to notice that one youth was choking on the marshmallows that had melted and were going down her throat. She couldn’t cough up the marshmallows. It could have been a major disaster. Needless to say chubby bunny is off my list. You may want to add a bit of warning with that one.

Jonathan, Pleease remove chubby bunny from your list of games. Marshmallows are very sticky and can choke a person if they slide down the throat whole. The Heimlich manuver will not work when this happens. The marshmallow conforms to the shape of the throat, totally blocking the airway. And it is so sticky that it won’t pop out! Children can die because of this! I’m sure you don’t want that, so please remove this game from your website before a tragedy occurs!

Atomic Fire Bunnies!
The game is a play off of another game called…. FLUFFY BUNNY or something like that. WE IMPROVED THE GAME!!! … we use “atomic fireballs” (those red hot dime-store candies) for the game. RED GOOK GOES EVERYWHERE!!!!! It’s a little more about how hot… than it is about how many…. we like this better because it’s more interesting (messy) and… it is safer. It is very difficult to get three cramped up marchmellows out of the back of a kids throught… remember they may just choke. With the fireballs… they are more likely to spit out the solid objects and less likely to get so many in their mouths that they don’t still have room for things like…. breathing. With this game we have them repeat interesting scriptures instead of only saying “fluffy bunny” or whaterever it was. Jonathan we played chubby bunny Sunday at children church and was informed that 2 12yr old kids have chock playing it check out this site: http://www.paranoidsisters.com/info/chubbybunny.htm


A CHANCE TO VOTE
Well, there it is. Even a web site to consult for further information. You make the call. Email me at jon@thesource4ym.com and vote. If you think I should remove the game from my list, simply email me with the subject line, AX CHUBBY BUNNIES. If you think it should stay, email me with subject line, KEEP CHUBBY BUNNIES!

I Can’t Believe This is a Game

You’ll have to pardon my sarcastic mood- I’m tired. And when I’m tired, I get frisky! (I’m training in LA this week at the DC/LA event)

I often browse through other game web sites and check out ideas and resources that I can link. I found the following game and couldn’t help but to show it to you. Was I just born yesterday?!! Note the detailed description:

Pyramid
This requires 6 kids, the idea is they have to from a human pyramid. Three strong ones kneel side by side on their hands and knees, the middle person should be the strongest. Then two others climb on top of them and kneel with a hand and knee on each of the two kids below them (the middle person must support the weight of two set of hands and knees). Finally the last person climbs to the very top of the pyramid. Its fun to see of they can stand up on top of everyone.

Wow! Thanks for the real winner. (I especially appreciate the clarification on the responsibility of the middle person!)

For actual games, check out:

https://thesource4ym.com/games