Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium by Jessie Hubbell Bancroft (top novels of all time .txt) đź“•
In the arrangement of material there has many times been a strong temptation to classify the games by their historic, geographic, psychologic, or educational interests; by the playing elements contained in them; or by several other possible methods which are of interest chiefly to the academic student; but these have each in turn been discarded in favor of the original intention of making the book preëminently a useful working manual for the player or leader of games.
[Sidenote: Varying modes of play]
The same games are found not only in many different countries and localities, but under different names and with many variations in the form of playing them. This has necessitated a method of an
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Nodding the head may be used instead of winking, but is more apparent to the guards.
WOLF5 to 30 or more players.
Out of doors.
This is an admirable hide and seek game where there are many hiding places, as in a village or the country.
One player is chosen for the wolf, who goes off and hides. The rest of the players are sheep, with one of their number as leader. A place is chosen for a pen where the sheep must stay and blind their eyes while the wolf is hiding. This pen may be a tree or rock or a square or circle drawn on the ground. The leader counts one hundred, to give the wolf time to hide. The sheep then start out, but must all follow their leader "like sheep," looking for the wolf in each place where the leader may search for him. This game differs from most other hiding games in that the searchers are the ones who have to flee for safety when the hider is discovered. As soon as the wolf is spied, the leader cries:—
Gather in a heap;
For I spy the woolly, woolly wolf!"
The sheep at once stand still until the wolf has taken a jump toward them, which he must do before he may chase them; but immediately that the wolf has made his leap, the sheep all turn and run for the sheep pen, the wolf following. As the wolf may not run until he hears the word "wolf" at the end of the leader's lines, the latter often tantalizes the wolf by saying, "I spy the woolly, woolly—lamb!" or "the woolly, woolly—cat!" or names any other animal he chooses, with a pause before the name, to prolong the suspense of the impatient wolf, finally ending up with "the woolly, woolly—wolf!"
Any sheep tagged by the wolf becomes a wolf and joins the wolf the next time, hiding either in the same den with him or in a separate den. When there is more than one wolf, the leader halts his sheep whenever he spies a wolf, whether it be the original wolf or not, and all of the wolves join in the chase when the sheep run back to the pen. The game ends when all of the sheep have been caught.
The wolf has several resources at his command for catching sheep in addition to a simple chase. If at any time while in hiding he spies the sheep before they spy him, and considers their position in relation to the goal advantageous to himself, he may call, "Stand your ground, three feet!" whereupon the sheep must instantly stand still and then take three steps toward the wolf and stand again until he jumps toward them, when the chase for the sheep pen begins. The wolf may also exercise considerable finesse by running directly for the pen if he be in a position to reach it quicker or more directly than by chasing the sheep. Should he reach the pen first, he may then tag the sheep as they run in. One sheep may act as a decoy to engage the attention of the wolf while the others run into the pen.
WOOD TAG3 to 30 or more players.
Out of doors; gymnasium.
This is a game of tag. When there are more than thirty players, it is desirable to have two or more who are It, or taggers. The players venture as near as possible to the one who is It, taunting him by crying, "Ticky, ticky, touch wood!" Any player may seek immunity from being tagged by touching a piece of wood. No growing thing, however, such as a tree or shrub, is to be considered as wood. No player may stay very long in any place of safety, and the moment his hand or foot be taken from the wood he is liable to be tagged. A player who is not near wood may gain a few minutes' respite by calling out "Parley!" but he must stand perfectly still in the place where he then is, the tagger being able to tag him if he makes the slightest move of any part of his body. When such a player decides to run again, he calls out, "Parley out!"
This game affords opportunity for a great deal of sport through the making of false starts and the daring approach to the one who is It, who, in turn, may make sudden and unexpected sorties in different directions.
Like Iron Tag, this game is very ancient, and has evidently come from an old superstition that to touch iron or some other particular substance gave immunity from the spell of evil spirits.
WRESTLING3 to 30 or more players.
Out of doors.
This is a form of I Spy or Hide and Seek, and seems indigenous to New York. All players properly caught by the spy become prisoners, but may be freed in a prescribed way. The procedure which gives time for hiding is also distinctive.
Two players are chosen, one to be It and one for stick thrower. All the players stand grouped around a goal, and the stick thrower throws a stick as far away from the goal as he can. As soon as the stick touches the ground, all of the players, including the thrower, but not the one who is It, scatter and hide. The one who is It must walk to the stick (never run), take it up, bring it back, and stand it up, resting against the goal. He then starts to hunt for the hidden players. He must run back and touch the goal for any player whom he discovers, saying, "One, two, three, for—!" naming the player. Any one caught in this way becomes a prisoner at the goal. Any player who has not been detected by the spy may run in to the goal at any time and throw the stick away, whereby all of the prisoners, i.e. those who have been spied and previously caught, become free and hide again. Whenever this freeing of prisoners happens, the spy must return to the goal, walk to the stick, pick it up, walk back with it to the goal again, and go on with the play as before. This continues until the spy has touched the goal for all of the players, though they need not all be prisoners at once. Any player spied who reaches the goal before the spy, is thereafter free; i.e. out of the game. The last one caught becomes spy for the next game.
QUIET GAMES QUIET GAMESNote.—The games in this division are not necessarily noiseless or lacking in movement; but are distinguished from the active games largely by the lack of chasing or other vigorous exercise.
AUTHOR'S INITIALS2 to 60 players.
Parlor; schoolroom.
Each player is given a piece of paper on which is written various series or groups of words, each group descriptive of some author, and each word beginning with one of his initials in regular order. The player wins who guesses the largest number of authors. The following are suggested; others may be devised:—
Juveniles firmly conquered (James Fenimore Cooper). Name honored (Nathaniel Hawthorne). Bright humor (Bret Harte). One wholesome humorist (Oliver Wendell Holmes). Really lasting stories (Robert Louis Stevenson). Cheerful laborer (Charles Lamb). Tender, brilliant author (Thomas Bailey Aldrich). Heroism wisely lauded (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow). Just, gentle writer (John Greenleaf Whittier). Poetry bridged skyward (Percy Bysche Shelley). Clever delineator (Charles Dickens). Rare brain (Robert Browning). Weird imagination (Washington Irving). "B" GAME5 to 30 or more players.
House party.
Each player is given a sheet of paper with numbered questions prepared like the following list. The answer to each question is to be written opposite it, and must consist of the letter B as an initial and added to it the number of letters designated, the whole conforming to the definition given. The following examples will illustrate:—
B and one letter, meaning to exist.—Be. B and two letters forming a sack.—Bag. B and three letters forming a storehouse.—Barn. B and three letters, side of a stream.—Bank. B and three letters, a young creature.—Baby. B and three letters, a bag of goods.—Bale. B and three letters, without hair.—Bald. B and three letters, a surety.—Bond. B and three letters, timber.—Beam. B and three letters, a vegetable.—Beet.—Bean. B and three letters, a poet.—Bard. B and three letters, a drink.—Beer. B and three letters, a globule.—Bead. B and three letters, part of a bird.—Beak. B and three letters, a vessel.—Boat. B and four letters, an appendage.—Beard. B and four letters, a tree.—Beech. B and four letters, to commence.—Begin. B and four letters, a strand.—Beach. B and four letters, a receptacle.—Basin. B and four letters, a kind of meat.—Bacon. B and five letters, a combat.—Battle. B and five letters, a hound.—Beagle. B and five letters, a signal.—Beacon. B and five letters, a cup.—Beaker. B and eight letters, a demon.—Beelzebub.The player wins who answers correctly the largest number. This game may be devised for any initial letter.
BARGAIN COUNTER5 to 30 or more players.
House party.
Each player is provided with a paper and pencil. The following is either written on the papers in advance, or by the players from dictation, minus the underscoring. Each player is then required to find in the text the names of twenty-five textiles that may be purchased in a dry goods store, none to be mentioned twice, indicating each by underscoring. The player wins who has the largest number correct.
Dolly Varden, immaculately dressed, sat in the window ledge and heard from the church near by the mellow chords of the organ dying slowly away. Her silken hair was well drawn back from her forehead low and broad. Clothed as she was in pink and green, she made one think of the spring. She was considered musical; I considered her brilliant in every way. I was before the dresser, getting ready to go out, and taking a forkful of cold slaw now and then, or some mock duck. "I want to send a line north, Henrietta," said Dolly, bringing ham sandwiches; for she saw I felt hungry. She then wrote this letter: "I marvel, veterans, if you pause in your good work for lack of cash, merely as is represented. You should canvas for a book or paper, Caleb, some handy volume, possibly a duodecimo. Hairsplitting terms like this I do not often employ, but, blessings on the head of Cadmus! linguists must sometimes use their hands as well as their wit, weed gardens, if need be, but spare the mullein, for it seems to me like a flower. Always remember that, though the light burns dim, it yet will burn."
BEAST, BIRD, OR FISH10 to 30 or more players.
Parlor; gymnasium; playground; schoolroom.
The players stand or are seated, preferably in a circle. One player stands or sits in the center with a soft ball, made by crushing paper or knotting up a handkerchief. This is thrown at one of the players by the one in the center, who says quickly, "Beast, bird, or fish!" then repeats one of these classes and immediately counts ten, whereupon the player who has been hit by the ball must name some beast or bird or fish,
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