Happy Presidents Day 2012

The children love our tradition of pulling out my husband's pewter presidents each year.  We always play a scavenger hunt with them.  I change the game around a bit each year.  One year we did popular presidents and last year we did some of the presidents' favorite food.  This year I decided to do all of the presidents through the Civil War (which we have just finished studying in history).  Below is the trivia about each president and the hiding place.

1) George Washington ~ One of the first citizens to own an ice cream maker.  (ice cream maker)
2) John Adams ~ Once stole a sliver of wood off William Shakespeare's chair to keep as a souvenir. (on our Shakespeare book)

3) Thomas Jefferson ~ He practiced his violin for 3 hours every day. (next to our toy violin)

4) James Madison ~ Our tiniest president.  He weighed only 100 pounds. (scale)
5) James Monroe ~ The third president to die on the Fourth of July.  (wrapped in a patriotic towel)
6) John Quincy Adams ~ He owned a pet alligator. (alligator skull in son's room)
7) Andrew Jackson ~ He put on many parties for children when he was president. (Easter egg basket with eggs)
8) Martin Van Buren ~ He was an enthusiastic singer. (piano bench with song books)
9) William Henry Harrison ~ He was a doctor before becoming president. (stethoscope)

10) John Tyler ~ He had 15 children.  (cradle with baby dolls)
11) James Polk ~ He did not trust banks and kept his money in bags hidden around the house. (near dd's piggy banks)

12) Zachary Taylor ~ He had a severe digestive upset after eating milk, pickles and cherries mixed together.  This event led to his death.

13) Millard Fillmore ~ He added a library to the White House. (bookcases)

14) Franklin Pierce ~ He made many upgrades to the White House, including central heating. (hidden in one of the radiators)

15) James Buchanan ~ Since he never married, he lived in the White House alone.  The American people felt sorry for him and sent him many pets, including a herd of elephants. (our zoo animals)

16) Abraham Lincoln ~ He loved to watch plays and enjoyed sitting in rocking chairs.  The Ford's Theater provided a rocking chair for Lincoln whenever he came to see a show. (rocking chair)

Blessings, Dawn