Introducing The KING
The KING versus the Flutterbys
Skunk The KING
Steal The KING's Crown


Introducing The KING

The KING loves to ruin your day!

A good time to first introduce The KING is around the time you are working on Get-Along and/or Hurry-Up, or when things are getting especially out of hand and you think it might help.

The KING’s usual strategy is to send out multiple Crabbies to attack your peaceful, fun, and productive day, or to take advantage of you on one of those generally WILD days.

All you need is a few tips and tricks to counterattack ‘The WILD Days’:

First, remember the two key rules:

“Bee Nice" and "Have Fun (without being WILD!)”

Next, get everyone to settle down as quickly and quietly as you can. It helps if everyone actually sits down, so that they are ready to listen. Then, let everyone know as gently as you can that it is way too wild and that you think KING Crabbie may have sent some of his Crabbies in to wreck the day. Tell them that you think KING Crabbie himself might be part of the team trying to ruin your day.

Now, remind everyone how important Rule #1 and Rule #2 of CrabbieControl are and when it gets too loud and wild say:

“Bee Nice and Have Fun…without being WILD!”

(While you do need to emphasize that being wild needs to stop, emphasizing this point gently will work better than emphasizing it angrily or loudly.)

Turn The Day Around!

Tell them that this is also the perfect time to use another CrabbieControl trick to BEAT The Crabbies – especially to BEAT The KING!

Tell them it’s time to turn the day around and then with your best CrabbieControl role-playing attitude, literally turn around in a complete circle and have all the kids stand up and do it with you while saying…

“Let’s Turn Our Day Around!”

Believe it or not, this actually works!

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Flutterbys are butterflies (in the form of stickers) that team up with us to beat The Crabbies. Children love them because they are such nice, easy-going, harmless creatures, and because of the obvious play on words.

After learning how to beat a few Crabbies it can start to get a little overwelming. It helps to remember that The KING, as powerful as he is, also makes a great fall guy! BLAME HIM!

Have everyone shift their focus to BEATING The KING!

To do this, it helps to call a little meeting. Bring your voice to a whisper and say something like, “Oh, no! I don’t want The KING to hear me, but I think he is here. He’s probably angry because we have beaten so many of his Crabbies.”

Now, break out The KING versus Flutterbys chart and put it on a wall or door where everyone can easily see it. Explain that each time things get wild The KING gets a point. Every time things are not wild the Flutterbys get a point. CrabbieMasters and Flutterbys are on the same team, and together, beating The KING will be lots of fun!

Be sure to be honest and fair by giving The KING a point whenever he deserves one. Don’t get upset or angry about it when it happens. In this state, the better you can be about keeping the CrabbieMaster nature, the better your chances of turning things around. Remember, it’s you and the kids against The Crabbies. And if The Crabbies win a point, well, it’s pretty easy to look at the chart and

“BLAME THE CRABBIES!!”

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Skunk The KING

A good way to get the children excited is to encourage them to:

“SKUNK THE KING!”

This happens when the Flutterbys fill up the chart and The KING gets zero points. Kids really like the challenge when it’s done in a fun way. If only the Flutterbys get points, you did it!

It also helps to break the day down into 10 segments, with each segment encompassing things that would be done in a typical day. At the end of each segment a point is given to either KING or Flutterbys.

A typical day at our preschool might be something like:

Arrival (or waking up and starting the day if this is home). 1 pt.
Stations, or daily activities. (Usually 3 stations, so 3 points.) 3 pts.
Transition to lunch 1 pt.
Lunch time. 1 pt.
Transition to rest/nap time. 1 pt.
Quiet time while some kids are napping and others are up doing activities. 1 pt.
Transition to snack time 1 pt.
Snack time. 1 pt.
Transition to pick-up time. 1 pt.

Total 10 pts.

Remember, this is just an example. It varies greatly from day to day. Flexibility, variety, and creativity to meet your needs (and to BEAT The Crabbies!) are always in order! You may only need 5 points on one day versus more on another. Or, you might need to weight a particular activity more. Do what you think is best, experiment, learn what works for you and your situation.

Using the 10 point example works well for a few reasons:

Kids really like to count how many stickers the KING and Flutterbys have, so it’s a great way to reinforce learning to count by 10’s. This is especially true when you “SKUNK THE KING!” on multiple days.

We use small stickers for the individual points, but if you “SKUNK The KING” make the 10th sticker for the Flutterbys a large sticker.

Even though children usually enjoy this and become quite good at it, don't expect perfection. It works to keep things balanced. If it gets too loud or wild, give a brief and a quick reminder that we need to turn it around quick, or The KING is going to get a point. Don’t sweat it, and reward them with a point for the Flutterbys if things hang together for the rest of that period.

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Steal The KING's Crown

When you have beaten all The Crabbies and skunked The KING for a few days, you can declare, “Congratulations,” and enjoy the moment you’ve all been working together for:

“It’s time to steal The KING’s Crown!!” (be sure you have discussed the whole plan to steal The KING’s Crown throughout the KING versus Flutterbys contest.)

All you do to steal the Crown is color a black & white KING Crabbie, or print a color one from the Printables section, and cut off the Crown. Then, make crowns (or take out the ones you have already made) for The CrabbieMasters. You can use construction paper and decorate it with stickers, use heavier paper and glue on ‘jewels’ from a craft store, or purchase a ready-made crown. It doesn’t really matter how you do it, you can keep it simple, because it’s such a highlight for kids to…

“STEAL THE KING’S CROWN!”

If this is the first time BEATING The KING and all the other Crabbies have already been beaten, then it is extra special!

Beating all The Crabbies including The KING means one is now an ULTIMATE CRABBIEMASTER…..and also a….. WISEONE!

This calls for a special event!

Be sure to print up an “ULTIMATE CrabbieMaster” certificate.

Do the "pie-in-the-face" celebration described in Beyond The Basics: Key Do's and Don'ts: Make It Fun! for lots of laughs and giggles to make it memorable!

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