Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium Part 18

For large numbers of players it is advisable to give each a better chance to partic.i.p.ate actively in the game by having the rabbits and trees change parts whenever a rabbit is caught. The hound, and the rabbit who was caught, then choose their successors.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HOW MANY MILES TO BABYLON?]

HOW MANY MILES TO BABYLON?

_10 to 100 players._

_Indoors; out of doors._

The players are divided into two lines and stand facing each other, with a distance of about ten feet between. Each line numbers off in twos, and the players in each line take hold of hands. The following dialogue takes place between the two lines, all of the players in a line asking or answering the questions in unison. The lines rock forward and backward during the dialogue from one foot to another, also swinging the clasped hands forward and backward in time to the rhythm of the movement and the words. The time should be rapid.

The first line asks:--

"How many miles to Babylon?"

Second line:--

"Threescore and ten."

"Will we be there by candle light?"

"Yes, and back again."

"Open your gates and let us through."

"Not without a beck [courtesy] and a boo [bow]."

"Here's a beck and here's a boo, Here's a side and here's a sou; Open your gates and let us through."

As the players in the first line say, "Here's a beck and here's a boo," they suit the action to the words, drop hands, and make each a courtesy, with wrists at hips for the "beck," and straighten up and make a deep bow forward for the "boo"; a.s.sume an erect position and bend the head sideways to the right for "Here's a side," and to the left for "Here's a sou." Then the partners clasp hands and all run forward in eight quick steps in the same rhythm as the dialogue that has been repeated, each couple pa.s.sing under the upraised hands of the opposite couple, which represent the city gates. Having taken the eight steps, the running couple turns around, facing the other line from the opposite side. This is done in four running steps, making twelve steps in all. The couples that made the gates then turn around in four running steps (a total of sixteen steps or beats) until they face the first line, when they in turn begin the rocking motion and the dialogue, "How many miles to Babylon?" This is repeated indefinitely, each line being alternately the questioners and the gates.

The time in which the lines are repeated and the accompanying movements should be very brisk and rapid, so as to give life and action to it. The start forward in the run when the couples pa.s.s through the gates should be made with a decided stamp or accent on the first step; and the last step with which they turn in place, facing the line after they have pa.s.sed through the gates, should have a similar accent. The questions and answers should be given with varied intonation to avoid monotonous singsong.

Mrs. Gomme ascribes the origin of this game to a time when toll was required for entrance into a city, or for the carrying of merchandise into a walled town. The form here given is of Scottish origin, gathered by the writer, and is different from any published versions that have been consulted.

HUCKLE, BUCKLE, BEAN STALK

_5 to 60 players._

_Schoolroom; parlor._

This game is a form of Hide the Thimble.

A thimble, cork, ring, or other small object may be used for hiding.

All of the players leave the room save one, who places the object in plain sight but where it would not be likely to be seen, as on the top of a picture frame, in a corner on the floor, etc. It may be placed behind any other object, so long as it may be seen there without moving any object. This hiding will be especially successful if some hiding place can be found near the color of the object; for instance, if the object be of metal, to hang it from the key of a door, put it in the filigree of a vase, etc. When the object has been placed, the players are called into the room, and all begin to look for it. When one spies it, he does not at once disclose this fact to the others, but quietly takes his seat, and when seated, says, "Huckle, buckle, bean stalk!" which indicates that he knows where the object is. The game keeps on until all of the players have located the object, or until the teacher or leader calls the hunt closed. The first one to find the object hides it for the next game.

HUNT (THE)

_10 to 30 or more players._

_Playground; gymnasium._

The ground is marked off with two goals at opposite ends by parallel lines drawn entirely across it. The s.p.a.ce between the lines should measure from thirty to fifty or more feet. One player is chosen for hunter, who stands in the center. The other players are named in groups from various animals; thus there will be several lions, several tigers, etc. These groups are divided so that part stand in one goal and part in the other, the number of players being equal in each goal when the game opens.

The hunter, standing in the center, calls the name of any animal he chooses, whereupon all of the players bearing that name must change goals. The hunter tries to catch them while they are in his territory.

The first player caught must thereafter help the hunter in catching the others. The second player caught changes places with the first, the first one then being placed in a "cage" at one side of the playground and is out of the game. The game ends when the hunter has caught all of the animals.

There are several games very similar to this, but all of them have distinctive points that make them quite different in playing. In the present game the hunter has the advantage of chasing players running from both directions, but there is a comparatively small number of these, and he is placed at the disadvantage of not usually knowing just which players bear the names of certain animals.

HUNT THE FOX

_20 to 60 or more players._

_Playground; gymnasium._

The players stand in two parallel lines or files facing to the front, with about five feet distance between the files, and considerable distance between each two players in a file, so that the runners may have s.p.a.ce to run between them. The head player of one file is a fox and the head player of the opposite file the hunter.

At a signal the fox starts to run, winding in and out from one side to the other of his file until he reaches the bottom, when he turns and comes up the opposite file. The fox is not obliged to run between each two players, but may skip any number that he wishes, and choose his own track. The hunter must follow in exactly the same trail, being obliged, should he make a mistake, to go back to the point at which he diverged from the path of the fox. If the fox succeeds in getting back to the head of the second file without being caught, he is considered to have escaped, and takes his place at the foot of his own file.

Should he be caught by the hunter, he changes places with the latter, the hunter going to the foot of the fox's file, and the fox taking the hunter's original place at the head of his file. The second player in the fox's file, who should have moved up to the front to keep the lines even, is then fox for the next chase.

HUNT THE SLIPPER

_10 to 30 or more players._

_Parlor; seash.o.r.e; gymnasium._

All of the players but one sit in a circle, with the feet drawn up and knees raised so that a slipper may be pa.s.sed from hand to hand of each player under his knees. Where both boys and girls are playing, it is desirable to have the girls alternate as much as possible with the boys, as the slipper is more readily hidden under their skirts. The players pa.s.s the slipper or bean bag around the circle under the knees, the object being on their part to evade the vigilance of the odd player, who runs around on the outside of the circle trying to touch the person who holds the slipper. Many devices may be resorted to for deceiving the hunter, such as appearing to pa.s.s the slipper when it is not in one's hands, or holding it for quite a while as though the hands are idle, although it is not considered good sport to do this for very long or often. The players will use every means of tantalizing the hunter; for instance, when he is at a safe distance, they will hold the slipper up with a shout, or even throw it to some other person in the circle, or tap the floor with it. When the hunter succeeds in catching the player with the slipper, he changes places with that player.

When the circle of players is very large, the odd player may take his place in the center instead of outside the circle.

INDIAN CLUB RACE

_10 to 100 players._