Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium, Jessie Hubbell Bancroft [best books to read for knowledge txt] 📗
- Author: Jessie Hubbell Bancroft
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4 to 60 or more players.
Indoors; out of doors.
One player is It and chases the others, trying to tag one of them. A player may escape being tagged by suddenly stooping or "squatting"; but each player may stoop but three times. After the third time of stooping, the player may resort only to running to escape being tagged. Any player tagged becomes It.
For large numbers of players there should be several taggers.
SUN DIAL2 to 10 players.
Gymnasium; playground; seashore.
A circle from twelve to twenty feet in diameter is drawn on the ground. This is intersected with straight lines, like the spokes of a wheel, which divide it into twelve sections, numbered consecutively from one to twelve.
One player is blindfolded, placed in the center (on the hub of the wheel), and turned around several times to confuse his sense of direction. He then walks around inside the rim while counting twelve, or repeating the verse:—
The mouse ran up the clock;
The clock struck ten
He ran down again,
Dickery, dickery, dock."
He stops on the last word, and the number of the space in which he stands is scored to his credit; for instance, if he stops in section eight, it scores eight points for him; if in section three, it scores three points, etc. Should he stop with one foot on a line or outside the circle, he scores nothing. The players take turns, each having but one trial at a turn. The game is won by the player first scoring twenty-five or fifty points, as may be decided.
TAGThe game of plain, old-fashioned Tag may be made great sport, especially if suddenly and unexpectedly commenced in a group of players when other interests seem to lag.
The game has many variations, a considerable number of which are here given, each variation making practically a different game.
This game is found in all countries and is prehistoric. It is supposed to have arisen from the idea of fleeing from an evil spirit, and in those forms from which immunity is found by touching wood or iron or taking some particular position, that especial feature is supposed to have originated in the idea of breaking the spell of the pursuing evil.
The following tag games will be found in their alphabetical order:—
4 to 60 players.
Indoors; out of doors.
Tag in its simplest form may be started by any one of a group of players suddenly turning to another, touching (tagging) him and saying "You're It!" when all must flee from the one who is It.
The player who is It may chase and tag any other player whom he chooses, but will aid his own ends by suddenly turning his attention from one player to another, or by doubling back on his course, or resorting to any of the other feints that give an unexpected turn to a game of chase.
The players who are being chased will add to the zest of the game by venturing as close as possible to the one who is It, calling to him and taunting him with their proximity, and suddenly dodging away. When a player is hard pressed or breathless, or does not wish to play, he may become immune from tagging by crossing any one finger over its neighbor on either hand, as the forefinger over the middle finger. It is considered "babyish," however, to resort to this unless there is some very good reason. A player who has had a good fair chase ought to be willing to be It if caught.
Any player whom the chaser tags immediately becomes It, but the chaser, in touching him, must say "You're It!" At his own discretion he may add "No fair," which means that the one who has just become It may not turn at once and tag him. A venturesome player, however, will omit this, especially if he should tag another player from behind, and trust to his own powers of dodging for getting safely away. Where there are a large number of players, two or more may be chosen to be It.
TAG THE WALL RELAY10 to 60 players.
Schoolroom.
The players should all be seated, an even number in each row of seats. At a signal, the last player in each line runs forward and tags the front wall. As soon as this player is out of the aisle, the others all move backward one seat. This leaves the front seat vacant, and the runner having touched the wall returns immediately and takes this vacant front seat. As the player sits he raises his hand, which is a signal for the player who is now the last one in the line to run forward, the line moving backward one place as soon as he is out of the aisle. He, in turn, having touched the wall, takes the vacant front seat. The play is continued in this way until every one in the row has run.
The line wins whose player, sitting at the start in the front seat, first returns to his seat.
As in all schoolroom games where there is running, the seated players should be very careful to keep their feet under the desks, so there will be nothing in the aisles over which the runners may trip.
This is one of the best class room games and is very popular.
TEN STEPS10 to 30 or more players.
Playground; indoors.
This is a game of hide and seek and like all such games is best played where there is plenty of space and many hiding places. The distinctive feature of this game is the peculiar limitation put on the opportunity to hide, which may even free the blinder from his task. The one who is It, or hunter, blinds his eyes and counts ten while the other players run for hiding places. As soon as the one who is blinding says "Ten!" the players must all stand motionless whereever they happen to be, while he turns at once to look for them. Any player whom he sees moving must come back to the goal and start over again. The hunter repeats this five times, and any player not entirely out of sight the fifth time the hunter turns must change places with him, the original hunter becoming a spectator of the game. Having called "Ten!" and turned to look for moving players five times, the hunter (or the one taking his place, as explained above) counts one hundred, to give the players time to reach final hiding places, and the game proceeds as in regular I Spy.
THIMBLE RING10 to 30 or more players.
Indoors; out of doors.
All of the players but one stand in a circle, each one clasping with his left hand the right wrist of his left-hand neighbor. This leaves all of the right hands free and all of the left hands occupied. The odd player stands in the center of the circle, and tries to detect who holds the thimble that is passed from hand to hand. Each player in the circle places his right hand first in the hand of his neighbor on the right and then in the hand of the neighbor on the left, keeping this movement going rhythmically, while the entire circle repeats the lines:—
It is first over here and then over there."
When the player in the center thinks he knows who has the thimble, he goes up to him and says: "My lady's lost her thimble. Have you it?" If correct, these two players change places. If incorrect, the one who is It demands of the player addressed to find it. This player, in turn, has one guess. If correct, he takes the place of the one who has the thimble, the one who was It taking the vacant place in the circle, and the one who held the thimble going to the center. Should the player be incorrect in his guess, he changes places with the one in the center.
THIRD MAN15 to 100 players.
Playground; gymnasium.
This game is another form of the game commonly known as Three Deep, but instead of being played in the circular formation, the players are scattered irregularly over the playground.
All of the players but two take partners and scatter in any irregular way. The players forming each couple stand facing each other, with the distance of a long step between them. To make a success of the game, the distance should be considerable between the various couples.
Of the two odd players, one is runner and the other chaser, the object of the latter being to tag the runner. The runner may take refuge between any two players who are standing as a couple. The moment that he does so, the one toward whom his back is turned becomes third man, and must in his turn try to escape being tagged by the chaser. Should the chaser tag the runner, they exchange places, the runner immediately becoming chaser and the chaser being liable instantly to tagging.
THIRD SLAP5 to 30 or more players.
Playground; gymnasium; schoolroom.
The players should be divided into groups of from five to ten each. One in each group is chosen to be It; the others line up in front of him, all standing at a distance of from thirty to fifty feet from a goal previously decided on. The players in the line hold their hands extended forward the length of the forearm, the elbows being bent and touching the sides; the palms should be turned downward.
The one who is It tries to slap the hands of any of the players, who may evade him by bending the hands downward, upward, or sideways, at the wrist, but may not withdraw the arm or change the position of the elbow. Any player who receives three slaps, whether on one or both hands, immediately upon receiving the third slap, chases the one who is It toward the goal. Should the slapper be caught before he reaches the goal, he must continue as before, but if he succeeds in reaching the goal in safety, he changes places with his pursuer, who becomes It, or slapper, for the next round.
This game may have much sport in it if the one who is taking the part of slapper be very alert and agile in his movements, dodging quickly from one player to another, and making many false moves to throw the players off their guard as to where he is going to strike next. This game is very popular with children, and is an amusing diversion for young people for house parties.
THREE DEEP15 to 60 players.
Playground; gymnasium.
This game is one of the standard favorites for both children and adults.
All of the players but two form in a double ring, facing inward; that is, in two concentric circles, with one player directly behind another.
There are several methods of getting players into this formation. One method is to have the players march in column two
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