GAMES AND PLAYS 



2378 



GAMES AND PLAYS 



from the goal that his flock may reach It first he 

 calls "Run, sheep, run," and the hiders dash 

 toward the goal. If they arrive ahead they have 

 another chance to hide. 



Other Games. Almost innumerable are the 

 games which are adapted to these older chil- 

 dren; many of them are so well known that 

 it is necessary merely to mention their names. 

 Last Couple Out and Three Deep are general 



favorites and many a picnic crowd beyond 

 children's age finds in them much enjoyment. 

 Fire on the Mountain, Prisoner's Base, Fox 

 and Geese, Leap Frog and Crack the Whip 

 are others which almost every child will recog- 

 nize by name. In some of these, especially in 

 the last-named, care should be taken lest they 

 become too rough. Every group of children 

 will suggest other favorite games. 



Quiet Games 



"What shall we do?" What mother has toot 

 heard that repeated, especially on stormy days, 

 until she has dreaded the sound of the words. 

 Here are a number of games which may be 

 played indoors without any great amount of 

 noise and all are so simple that children can 

 play them. 



Hot or Cold. One child leaves the room and 

 some object Is hidden by the others. When he re- 

 turns and starts his search the others aid him by 

 humming or 'singing, softly to show that he is 

 "cold," or far from the hiding-place, and more 

 loudly to show that he is getting "hot," or closer 

 to the object. 



Rhyme Word* One player thinks of a word 

 and tells the others, not the word itself but one 

 that rhymes with it, while they try to find out the 

 word by asking questions. For instance, "I'm 

 thinking of a word," says the leader, "which 

 rhymes with can." "Is it a color?" says one. 

 "No, not tan." "Does it help to keep us cool?" 

 "No, not fan." "Does it walk on two legs?" 

 "No, not man." "Do we see it in the kitchen?" 

 "Yes, it is pan." The one who has guessed cor- 

 rectly then chooses a word, and so the game goes 

 on. This game may be varied by having the 

 leader and guessers spell the words. Thus "I 

 am thinking of a word that rhymes with f-a-n, 

 fan." "Is it c-a-n, cant" "No, it is not c-a-n, 

 can." "Is it p-a-n, pant" "Yes, It is p-a-n, pan." 

 For the older children the game becomes interest- 



ing as a test of vocabulary and good spelling, and 

 gives pleasure as a mental stimulus. 



Ten UiK-siioiiN. An object is chosen in the 

 absence of one player and he must then guess 

 what it is by asking questions, limited in number 

 to ten. Each of these must be in such form that 

 the answer may be "yes" or "no,"' except the 

 first, which is usually "Is It animal, vegetable or 

 mineral?" 



Buzz. Very little children cannot play at this, 

 but all those who have mastered the multiplica- 

 tion table up to "seven times" will find it very 

 interesting. Sitting in a circle the players count 

 In turn, "One," "Two," "Three," and so on, but 

 whenever seven or any multiple of seven or any 

 number in which seven occurs is reached, Buzz 

 must be substituted. Thus, 7, 14, 17, 21, 27, 28, and 

 so on will not be named, the word Buzz taking 

 their .place. Any player who gives the number 

 instead of Buzz must drop out. 



Beaut, Bird or Fish. One child stands in front 

 of the rest and says rapidly, "Beast, bird or fish ! 

 Fish, John," and John, or anyone else called 

 upon, must then name a fish before the leader 

 has counted ten. The three different classes of 

 animals should not always be called for in regu- 

 lar succession as this makes the game too simple. 



KJtty Miaou. The "cat" is stationed outside the 

 door of the room within which the other players 

 are assembled. In response to the cat's "miaou" 

 one child after another repeats "miaou" while the 

 cat tries to recognize each by his voice. The first 

 one so recognized becomes the cat in turn. 



Public Games 



Wonderful as seems the great popularity of 

 all modern competitive games, whether inter- 

 scholastic or professional, these do not yet play 

 so large a part in the life of the people as did 

 the great games of the ancient peoples. Most 

 of these were looked upon as religious festivals, 

 and in no way could greater honor be shown 

 the dead than by the celebration of elaborate 

 games. In the Iliad Homer tells how the two 

 armies made a truce, that Hector, the great 

 Trojan hero, might be buried with fitting 

 rites and games. These ancient games were 

 chiefly exhibitions of strength or endurance 

 and included running, wrestling, boxing, discus- 

 throwing and chariot-racing. No valuable 



prizes were given, but the simple laurel wreath 

 which crowned the victor was looked upon by 

 the Greeks as the highest honor a man could 

 win. Best known of these famous game-festi- 

 vals, which played a large part in Greek life 

 by promoting national unity and by developing 

 that type of "sound mind in sound body" 

 which Greek art and literature depict, were the 

 so-called Olympian Games (which see). In 

 Rome the games were often of a lower and 

 more brutal order, consisting of gladiatorial 

 combats or of conflicts of men with wild beasts 

 in the arena, but so thoroughly did thev satisfy 

 that "bread and the games" were the two things 

 demanded from the emperors. 



