“What have I got in my pocket?" he said aloud. He was talking to himself, but Gollum thought it was a riddle, and he was frightfully upset.
"Not fair! not fair!" he hissed. "It isn't fair, my precious, is it, to ask us what it's got in it's nassty little pocketsess?” - The Hobbit, Riddles in the Dark

This little hobbit party game was inspired by Bilbo Baggins’ famous question from Riddles in the Dark: “What have I got in my pocket?” Of course, while this was not a true riddle and Bilbo certainly hadn’t meant it to be one, it won the game for him and he escaped with Gollum’s ring. For this fun little game, participants will take turns choosing a “pocket” box — whoever finds the pocket containing Gollum’s ring first wins!

Supplies:

• DIY Advent calendar box set from Hobby Lobby (available in stores only, unfortunately)

• Paints & Brushes

• Items to fill the “pockets”: sticks, rocks, coins. nothing too fancy!

• The One Ring (well, a replica).

Directions:

• Paint your box kit however you’d like, I just did mine brown.

• Next, paint each box with a little pocket. Alternatively: if you don’t want to paint little pockets, cut out pockets out of cardstock and glue them on. Let everything dry!

• Fill the “pockets”, hiding the Ring in one random pocket. Keep it secret!

How to Play

• This game works best with 2-4 players, ages 3+ (to make sure none of the small objects get eaten or choked on).

• Starting with the youngest, each player takes a turn checking a pocket for the Ring. It’s pretty simple, whoever finds the Ring wins!