Monster Operation Game

In this gooey game, a parent dressed as a monster sits at the end of an operating table while unsuspecting young physicians (party guests) examine the patient's ghoulish guts.

What You Need

Variety of vegetables (see step 1)
2 old sheets or fabric
Thumbtacks

Duct tape
Face paint
Parent (see step 4)

Instructions

To make the monster's body, arrange vegetables on a picnic table to resemble a skeleton, minus the head. For arms, thighs and shins, use zucchini; a turnip, split in half, makes excellent kneecaps. Use toothpicks to pin a celery rib cage together, secure dried apricot toes to celery feet, and attach baby corn fingernails to hotdog fingers. Just below the rib cage, pile cooked spaghetti (small intestines) and licorice ropes (large intestines) directly on top of the table. No container is necessary. With a thumbtack, secure a plastic pie plate to the picnic table, below the intestines. Fill with gelatin (guts). Water-chestnut gallstones and a water-balloon heart make nice additions to the monster. When the organs are in place, secure them to the table with duct tape.
Top the operating table with sheet or fabric and cut slits in it so the children can reach in and touch the organs without being able to see them. Just before the kids arrive, position the live monster (a parent with green face paint) as close to the head of the table as possible, sitting on a chair. To create the illusion that the head is connected to the body, drape a second sheet over the monster's shoulders.
When the kids arrive, Dr. Frank N. Beans (a playful parent with a mad glint in his eyes) leads them to the spooky operating room. The monster groans. The doctor explains that the monster needs an extensive checkup, requiring the kids' help as assisting physicians. The doctor knocks out the monster with a tranquilizer shot (from a play doctor's kit). Clipboard in hand, the physician leads the young doctors around the table, guiding their hands through the slits so they can feel the guts. "Go ahead and tweak, prod and poke them," he says. "The monster hasn't had a checkup in centuries!" Then he records each child's prognosis ("clean bill of health" or "transplant required") on his chart. When the doctor announces that the patient needs a complete overhaul, the monster suddenly rises from his chair, pounds his chest, and roars.

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