There were several games played
by pioneer children that are still played today in homes, schools, and on the
playground. Hide-and-Seek, baseball, jump rope, tag, and string games are just
a few. Word games were played both at home and at school, because these games
helped the children learn language skills. Games involving guessing were also
popular, because these games were good brain exercises and helped students
develop their thinking skills.
Outdoor
Games
Fox and Geese
The game of Fox and Geese is played in the snow where the
students clear paths in the snow in the shape of a spoked wheel. They choose
one person to be the fox. The fox tries to tag the rest of the players, who are
the geese. All the players must stay within the paths of the wheel. Whomever
the fox tags then becomes the fox and has to chase the geese. An alternative to
playing in the snow is to mark four squares on the playground, each 10 feet
across. Every player stands on one of the lines forming the square. A signal is
given, and the person who is “it” has 10 seconds to touch as many players as
he/she can. Players who are tagged sit down in the marked area. All players
must stay on the lines while being chased.
Drop the Handkerchief
Drop the Handkerchief
(called Duck, Duck, Goose today) has players form a circle and hold hands. “It”
takes a handkerchief or a cloth and runs around the circle and drops the
handkerchief behind someone in the circle. That person then picks up the
handkerchief and runs the opposite direction of the one who dropped the
handkerchief to try and beat him/her back to the place where “it” began.
Whoever does not get back to fill in the empty space is “it.”
Blind Man's Bluff
Blind Man’s Bluff is a game in which one person is
blindfolded and the other people are in a circle around him/her. Someone turns
the blindfolded person around several times and lets him/her go to try and tag
someone in the circle. Whoever gets tagged becomes the next blindfolded person.
Inside Games
Who Has the Button
In the game Who Has
the Button?, the players form a circle. The person who is “it” leaves (or closes
his/her eyes) while the others pass a “button” or another object around the
circle. One person hides the object behind his/her back. All the other players
put their hands behind their backs, too. Then “it” is allowed three guesses as
to who is hiding the object. If “it” guesses correctly, they exchange places,
and a new person is “it.”
Marbles
Marbles is a game where a smooth playing field is required.
Either a small hole is made in the middle of the playing area or an inside
circle is made where each player puts a marble or more if it is agreed upon by
all the players. Each player takes turns flicking a larger marble (called a
shooter) at one of the smaller marbles. If a smaller marble goes into the hole
or is hit outside the circle (depending on the rules used), the person who shot
it in the hole or out of the circle gets to keep the marble and gets to shoot
again. The person with the most marbles at the end of the game is the winner.
Note: Shooting a marble is like flipping a
coin. Hold the shooter in your curled index finger and tuck your thumb behind
the marble. Flick the marble as hard as possible. Players kneel on the ground
with at least one knuckle of the shooting hand touching the ground until the
player has shot the marble.
Jack Straws
Jack Straws is a game similar to “pick up sticks.” Sticks of
straw or very thin sticks are used. The straws are placed in a pile shaped like
a haystack or tent (coming to a point at the top and spread out at the bottom).
Each player takes a turn pulling a straw out of the pile trying not to move any
other straws. If a player is able to get a straw out without jiggling any other
straws, he/she scores a point. Then it is the next player’s turn. The game ends
when the stack falls. The winner is the player with the most straws. To make
the game more interesting, there are “special” straws that are worth more
points. You may make these various colors.
