Children's Week

Children's Week is a week-long holiday in early May in which players take an orphan under their wing and show them the sights of Azeroth. It was added in patch 1.4 in April 2005 and first held that May, and it is one of the oldest holidays in World of Warcraft. In Classic, the Alliance took a human orphan from Stormwind City and the Horde an orc orphan from Orgrimmar on a tour of famous places, ice cream included, and the reward at the end was one of the game's first collectible pets.

Background

The wars of the past decades left many children without parents in the cities of both factions. Through the year, the orphans of Stormwind and Orgrimmar wander the streets dreaming of the day they are old enough to see the world, the way their parents would have shown it to them. During Children's Week, adventurers volunteer to take them along. The orphans' chatter is a big part of the charm: they ask endless questions, beg for treats and announce what heroes they will become.

Taking an orphan

For the Alliance, Orphan Matron Nightingale in Cathedral Square gave the quest Children's Week, and for the Horde, Orphan Matron Battlewail in the Drag gave Children's Week. Each handed over a whistle, the [Human Orphan Whistle] or the [Orcish Orphan Whistle], that called the orphan to follow its guardian for the rest of the week. Some of the destinations were far from home, across the sea or deep in the other faction's lands.

Sightseeing

Each orphan had a wish list of famous places and heroes, and every stop was a quest of its own.

The human orphan wanted to see:

• The Bough of the Eternals, the bear-shaped bank tree in Darnassus, in The Bough of the Eternals.
• The great dam of Loch Modan in The Stonewrought Dam.
• The haunted lighthouse in Westfall, home of a ghostly pirate captain, in Spooky Lighthouse.
• An autograph from Jaina Proudmoore in Theramore, in Jaina's Autograph, which gave a [Jaina's Autograph].

The orc orphan wanted to see:

• The docks of Ratchet, where ships leave for Booty Bay, in Down at the Docks.
• The Mor'shan Rampart in The Barrens, the gateway to the frontier of Ashenvale, in Gateway to the Frontier.
• The empty throne room of Lordaeron above the Undercity, where Arthas Menethil killed his father, in Lordaeron Throne Room.
• The hoofprint of Cairne Bloodhoof in Thunder Bluff, in Cairne's Hoofprint, which gave a [Cairne's Hoofprint].

Both orphans also wanted ice cream. In You Scream, I Scream... and You Scream, I Scream..., players bought a [Tigule and Foror's Strawberry Ice Cream] for them, the strawberry treat they remembered from the races at the Shimmering Flats.

Rewards

When every wish was granted, the orphan said goodbye and the guardian brought the whistle back to the matron in A Warden of the Alliance (Alliance) or A Warden of the Horde (Horde). The matron offered a choice of four rewards:

At the time, pets were rare. Each character could take an orphan only once a year, so collecting all three meant either three years of Children's Week or three characters. The pets made Children's Week one of the holidays that collectors never missed.

Later history

• The Burning Crusade added blood elf and draenei orphans in Shattrath City, and later expansions added orphans in Dalaran, Boralus and Dazar'alor, Dornogal and elsewhere, each with its own pets.
• World of Warcraft Classic has the original version with the human and orc orphans.

Sources

• Children's Week, Warcraft Wiki
• All the in-game holidays that are part of WoW Classic, Blizzard Watch