Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium Part 5

One player is chosen to be bear, and sits in the center on a stool.

The bear chooses a second player to be his keeper. The keeper stands by the bear, each of them holding an end of a short rope about two feet in length and knotted at either end to give a firm hold. The rest of the players stand around in a circle inclosing these two. The object of the players is to tag (baste or buffet) the bear, without themselves being tagged by the bear or his keeper. The players may only attack the bear when the keeper calls "My bear is free!" Should a player strike at the bear before the keeper says this, they change places, the striker becomes bear, the former bear becomes the keeper, and the keeper returns to the ring. The keeper does his best to protect his bear by dodging around him on all sides to prevent the attacks of the players who dodge in from the circle to hit him.

Should the keeper or bear tag any player, the same exchange is made; that is, the player tagged becomes bear, the former bear the keeper, and the keeper returns to the ring.

Should a rope not be conveniently at hand, the game may be played in any of the three following ways: (1) by the bear and his keeper clasping hands; (2) a circle may be drawn around the bear beyond which the keeper may not go; (3) the keeper may be subjected to the general rule of not going more than two steps away from the bear in any direction.

Where there are more than thirty players, two or more rings should be formed, each having its own bear and keeper.

This is an old game, popular in many countries. It contains excellent sport, with opportunity for daring, narrow escapes, and much laughter.

BEAR IN THE PIT

_10 to 30 players._

_Playground; gymnasium._

A bear pit is formed by the players joining hands in a circle with one in the center as the bear. The bear tries to get out by breaking apart the bars (clasped hands), or by going over or under these barriers.

Should he escape, all of the other players give chase, the one catching him becoming bear.

This is a favorite game with boys, and is not so rough a game as Bull in the Ring, the means of escape for the bear being more varied. He can exercise considerable stratagem by appearing to break through the bars in one place, and suddenly turning and crawling under another, etc.

BEND AND STRETCH RELAY

_10 to 60 players._

_Schoolroom._

This game consists in a sideways pa.s.sing of two bean bags and two dumb-bells alternately. This amount of apparatus should be placed on the floor in the outer aisle beside each player in one of the outside rows, say that to the left of the pupils.

On the command "Go!" each player in this first row picks up a dumb-bell, raises it overhead, and there pa.s.ses it to his own right hand, which is then extended sideways at shoulder level, where the next player takes it. The dumb-bells are pa.s.sed across the room in this manner, each player stretching his arms high overhead, when he pa.s.ses the bell from his left to his right hand. The last player who receives the bell places it on the floor beside him in the outer aisle.

As soon as the first player has pa.s.sed the first dumb-bell, he picks up a bean bag by bending down to the left, then straightens upward, pa.s.ses the bag over his head to his own right hand, and then bends deeply to the right and places the bean bag on the floor at his right side. He immediately straightens to an erect position, when the next player bends, takes up the bag, pa.s.ses it over his head, and bends to place it on the floor at his right side.

As soon as he has disposed of the first bean bag, the leader of each line reaches for the second dumb-bell. This time the bell is pa.s.sed simply from hand to hand in front of the body instead of overhead.

As soon as the second bell has left his hand, the leader of each line picks up the second bean bag, which is the last piece of apparatus to be pa.s.sed. The pa.s.sing of the second bean bag is different from that of the first. The pupils face sideways to the left, their feet resting in the aisle, and drop the bag behind them to the floor with both hands, at the same time bending slightly backward. The next player bends forward, picks up the bag with both hands, and then leans backward, with his hands stretched high overhead, and drops the bag in his turn in the aisle behind him. The line wins whose last player first receives the second bean bag. The player in the last line receiving this bean bag should stand instantly and hold the bean bag high overhead, the winning line being selected by this signal.

This game was originated by Mr. Joseph Cermak, of Chicago, and submitted in a compet.i.tion for schoolroom games conducted by the Girls' Branch of the Public Schools Athletic League of New York City, in 1906. This game was one that received honorable mention, and is here published by the kind permission of the author, and of the Girls' Branch, and of Messrs. A. G. Spalding & Brothers, publishers of the handbook in which the game first appeared.

BIRD CATCHER

_10 to 60 players._

_Schoolroom; playground._

Two opposite corners are marked off at one end of the ground or room, the one to serve as a nest for the birds and the other as a cage. A mother bird is chosen, who takes her place in the nest. Two other players take the part of bird catchers and stand midway between nest and cage. If played in the schoolroom, the remaining players sit in their seats; if in a playground, they stand beyond a line at the farther end of the ground which is called the forest. All of these players should be named for birds, several players taking the name of each bird. The naming of the players will be facilitated by doing it in groups. If in the cla.s.s room, each row may choose its name, after which the players should all change places, so that all of the robins or orioles will not fly from the same locality.

The teacher calls the name of a bird, whereupon all of the players who bear that name run from the forest to the nest, but the bird catchers try to intercept them. Should a bird be caught by the bird catcher, it is put in the cage, but a bird is safe from the bird catchers if it once reaches the nest and the mother bird. The players should be taught to make the chase interesting by dodging in various directions, instead of running in a simple, straight line for the nest.

The distance of the bird catchers from the nest may be determined with a little experience, it being necessary to place a handicap upon them to avoid the too easy capture of the birds.

BLACK AND WHITE

_10 to 100 players._

_Gymnasium; playground; parlor; schoolroom._

One player is chosen as leader, the rest being divided into two equal parties. Each player in one party should tie a handkerchief on the left arm to indicate that he belongs to the Whites; those in the other division are called the Blacks. The players stand around the ground promiscuously, the Whites and Blacks being mingled indiscriminately.

The leader is provided with a flat disk which is white on one side and black on the other, and preferably hung on a short string to facilitate twirling the disk. He stands on a stool at one side or end and twirls this disk, stopping it with one side only visible to the players. If the white side should be visible, the party known as the Whites may tag any of their opponents who are standing upright. The Blacks should therefore drop instantly to the floor, as in Stoop Tag.

Should the black side of the disk be shown, the party of Blacks may tag the Whites. Any player tagged drops out of the game. The party wins which puts out in this way all of its opponents. The leader should keep the action of the game rapid by twirling the disk very frequently.

This is an excellent game for keeping players alert, and may be the source of much merriment.

BLACKBOARD RELAY

_10 to 60 players._

_Schoolroom._

As here explained, this game is adapted to grammar (sentence construction, and punctuation). It may be made to correlate with almost any school subject, as explained.

The cla.s.s is seated with an even number of pupils in each row. A piece of crayon is given to the last players in each row, all of whom at a given signal run forward and write on the blackboard at the front of the room a word suitable to begin a sentence. Upon finishing the word each player returns at once to his seat, handing the crayon as he does so to the player next in front of him. This second player at once runs forward and writes one word after the first one, to which it must bear a suitable relation. In this way each player in the row adds to the sentence being written by his own row, the last player being required to write a word that shall complete the sentence, and to add punctuation marks.

The points scored are 25 for speed (the first row to finish scoring the maximum, and the others proportionately in the order of finishing), 25 for spelling, 25 for writing, and 25 for grammatical construction, capitals, and punctuation. The row wins which scores the highest number of points.

The following modes of correlation are suggested for this game:--

Arithmetic.--Each relay of pupils writes and solves on the blackboard a problem dictated by the teacher just before the signal to leave their seats. The line wins which has the largest number of problems correct. Multiplication tables may also be written, one step for each pupil.

English grammar or punctuation, as explained previously; spelling, the teacher announcing the word for each relay as they leave their seats; authors, each pupil to write the name of an author belonging to a certain period or country; each pupil to write the name of some poem, play, story, essay, or book by an author whose name is given at the outset of the game; or the names of characters from a given literary work or author; or the next line or pa.s.sage from a memorized selection.

Geography.--The names of mountain ranges, rivers, capital cities, boundaries, products.