Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium Part 57

[Ill.u.s.tration music:

The King of France with for-ty thou-sand men Marched up the hill and then marched down a-gain.

The King of France with forty thousand men Marched up the hill and then marched down again.

The players stand in two rows or groups facing each other. Each group has a leader who stands in the center and represents a king leading his army.

The game or play is a simple one of imitation; in which the players perform in unison some action first indicated by one of the leaders.

The leaders of the two groups take turns in singing the verse, at the same time marching forward during the first line of the verse, and back again to their places during the second line, ill.u.s.trating the action that is then to be taken by all. The verse is then sung by both groups while advancing toward each other and retreating, performing the movements indicated by the leaders. The movements ill.u.s.trated by the leaders may be anything suitable to an army of men, the words describing the movement being subst.i.tuted for the line, "Marched up the hill." Thus:--

The King of France with forty thousand men Waved his flag and then marched down again.

The following variations are suggested, each of which indicates the movements to go with it.

Gave a salute, etc.

Beat his drum.

Blew his horn.

Drew his sword.

Aimed his gun.

Fired his gun.

Shouldered arms.

Pranced on his horse.

It is scarcely necessary to say that a real flag and drum add much to the martial spirit of the game, and if each soldier can have a stick or wand over his shoulder for a gun, the _esprit de corps_ will be proportionately enhanced.

KITTY WHITE

_10 to 30 or more players._

_Indoors; out of doors._

This is an admirable game for very little children. Their dramatic tendency should be given full rein in impersonating the soft movements of the kitty and mousie before the chase begins.

Kitty White so slyly comes, To catch the Mousie Gray; But mousie hears her softly creep; And quickly runs away.

Run, run, run, little mouse, Run all around the house; For Kitty White is coming near, And she will catch the mouse, I fear.

[Ill.u.s.tration music: Kitty White

Kit-ty White so sly-ly comes To catch the Mous-ie Gray; But mous-ie hears her soft-ly creep And quick-ly runs a-way. Run, run, run, lit-tle mouse, Run all a-round the house; For Kit-ty White is com-ing near, And she will catch the mouse, I fear.

One player is chosen for the mouse and stands in the center, and another for Kitty White, who stands outside of the circle. The other players join hands in a ring and move around, while singing the first four lines. Meanwhile Kitty White is creeping around outside of the circle, peeping in at little Mousie Gray. When the fourth line is reached, "And quickly runs away," the circle stops moving and drops hands while the mouse runs out and in through the circle, chased by Kitty White. For the last four lines, while the chase is going on, the players in the circle stand in place and clap their hands while singing "Run, run," etc.

When the mousie is caught, both return to the circle, and another mouse and kitty are chosen.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE DUCK DANCE]

LEAVES ARE GREEN

_4 to 60 players._

_Indoors; out of doors._

This is a game for small children. The players join hands and form a ring. They dance around in a circle in time to the music, singing to the air of "Mulberry bush":--

The leaves are green, the nuts are brown; They hang so high they will not come down; Leave them alone till frosty weather; Then they will all come down together.

As the last words are sung, the children all stoop suddenly to the ground, to represent the falling nuts. This is more interesting if the time be rapid and if the players jump before stooping, which may lead to their tumbling over as the nuts do when they fall from the trees.

LET THE FEET GO TRAMP

_10 to 60 players._

_Playground; gymnasium; schoolroom._

Let the feet go tramp! tramp! tramp!

Let the hands go clap! clap! clap!

Let the finger beckon thee.

Come, dear friend, and skip with me.

La, la la la, la la la, etc.

Let the Feet Go Tramp

[Ill.u.s.tration music: Let the Feet Go Tramp

Let the feet go tramp, tramp, tramp, Let the hands go clap, clap, clap, Let the fin-ger beck-on thee, Come, dear play-mate, skip with me.

Tra la la la la la la, La la la la la la la, La la la la la la la, La la la la la.

The players form a circle with from one to five in the center, according to the number of players. All of the players, both circle and center, sing the verse, suiting the action to the words with stamping of the feet for "Tramp, tramp, tramp!" and clapping of the hands for "Clap, clap, clap!" As the last line, "Come dear friend and skip with me," is sung, each child in the center beckons to one in the circle, who steps in and joins hands with the little partner as they stand facing each other. These partners in the center then dance around in time to the chorus "La, la," and the circle players may also join hands and dance in a circle.

LONDON BRIDGE