Hopscotch, Hangman, Hot Potato, & Ha Ha Ha: A Rulebook of Children's Games - Brossura

Jack Maguire author of Creative Storytelling and What Does Childhood Taste Like? conducts storytelling programs and workshops in the New York City area.

Chapter One

Indoor Games for Sunny Days and Rainy Days

Action Spelling

WHERE TO PLAY

Indoors or outdoors

NUMBER OF PLAYERS

4 or more

EQUIPMENT

None

OBJECT OF THE GAME

For players to spell words correctly, substituting motions for some letters

This is a more playful version of the traditional game Spelling Bee.

Before the game, the players should select one player to act as the spelling master and then agree on a set of motions that will replace certain letters of the alphabet. A could be a jumping jack, L a handclap, and T a kick.

The number of substitutions made for letters should depend upon the age level of the players. To make the game simpler for younger children, the gestures and letters can correspond: a jumping jack for J, a kick for K and so on.

The game begins when the spelling master gives the first player a word to spell. That player must correctly spell the word, using the appropriate motions for the letters indicated. A player spelling pilot would say "P-I, then clap hands for L, say "O," and then kick to represent T if a clap signified L and a kick T.

The next player spells a word given by the spelling master, substituting gestures for letters as needed.

Action Spelling can be played for points or as an elimination game.

VARIATION

Another way to play Action Spelling is to substitute certain motions for vowels and consonants. For example, a hop on one foot could represent a vowel, while a jumping jack might signify a consonant.

Aesop's Mission

WHERE TO PLAY

Anywhere

NUMBER OF PLAYERS

4 or more

EQUIPMENT

None

OBJECT OF THE GAME

To discover the letter that "Aesop" has forbidden before being eliminated from the game

One player is designated as "Aesop," and the other players are the "animals" of Aesop's fables. Aesop must secretly choose one letter that must be avoided by the players.

Play begins when Aesop asks the first player a question that can require only a one-word answer. A crafty Aesop will try to ask a question that is likely to be answered with a word containing the forbidden letter.

For example, if the forbidden letter is s, Aesop might ask, "Which is your favorite season of the year?" hoping the player will respond with "summer" or "spring."

If the player responds to Aesop's question with a word containing the prohibited letter, he or she loses one life. The next player is given a chance to guess the forbidden letter before being asked a question.

After losing three lives, a player is dropped from the game. The players try to discover the taboo letter before using up all three lives. The player who guesses the forbidden letter first becomes the next Aesop.

Animals

WHERE TO PLAY

At a table

NUMBER OF PLAYERS

At least 3

EQUIPMENT

A deck of playing cards

OBJECT OF THE GAME

To win another player's cards by calling out his or her animal noise before that player calls yours

Shuffle and deal the cards facedown around the table. Next, each player should choose an animal to imitate. When everyone has a different animal, go around the circle a couple of times to practice the appropriate noises.

One player might meow like a cat, another bark like a dog, another hiss like a snake, or moo like a cow, and so forth. All players should try to remember the animals chosen by the others as well as their own.

Play begins at the dealer's left. Everyone around the table discards one card faceup (in sequential order), forming separate discard piles for each player.

When one player lays down a card that is of equal value to another card in someone else's discard pile (two Jacks, for instance), those players with the matching cards try to call out the animal noise of the other.

For example, if the "cow" lays clown a 6 that matches the 6 on the pile of the "cat," he or she tries to meow before the "cat" moos. The first of the two players to make the right sound is awarded the discard pile of the other player.

A player who makes a wrong noise, or calls out a noise at the wrong time, must pay the penalty of the top card from his or her discard pile or hand, if there is no discard pile.

The game is continued by the loser of each round, who lays down a new card.

Any player to lose all of his or her cards is eliminated from the game. The player to collect all the cards is the winner.

Playing until final elimination is recommended only for patient players. It might be a better idea to keep track of a predetermined number of rounds and designate the winner as the player with the greatest number of cards at the completion of all the rounds.

Art Consequences

WHERE TO PLAY

Seated at a table

NUMBER OF PLAYERS

3 or more

EQUIPMENT

A few sheets of paper and pencils

OBJECT OF THE GAME

To draw an imaginary, figure and create an amusing work of art through group effort

If numbers permit, the players should be divided into groups of three or four. The first player in each group begins by drawing the head and neck of a real or imaginary figure on the top one-third of the paper. When done, he or she folds the paper back so that nothing can be seen of the drawing except a few lines that will allow the next player to continue the figure.

The next player then draws in the shoulders and part of the arms and torso. When done, he or she folds the paper back again so only a bit of the bottom section of the drawing is visible -- enough to allow the next player to take up the drawing.

The drawing is passed along and finished by the final player, who then unfolds the paper to reveal the entire figure.

When there are two or more groups of "artists" there can be a competition for the best creation: silliest, scariest, most true to life, etc.

Surrealist artists of the 1930s called this game The Exquisite Corpse and used it to create a number of serious works of art.

Assassin

WHERE TO PLAY

Seated in a circle on the floor or around a table

NUMBER OF PLAYERS

6 or more

EQUIPMENT

Pencil or pen and scraps of paper

OBJECT OF THE GAME

For the "assassin" to eliminate all the other players from the game by winking at them, while avoiding being caught

Cut up or tear off a small piece of paper for each player. Mark one of these sheets with an X, fold, shuffle, and distribute them among the players. The players should open them secretly. The player whose paper is marked X will be the assassin.

After all the papers have been checked, the players form a circle around a table or seat themselves on the floor. Players examine the faces of the others around the circle, trying to discover who the assassin is. When the assassin winks at another player, that player must say, "I've been hit" and must drop out of the game.

If a player catches the assassin in the act of winking, the game is over, and the sharp-eyed player is the winner. But if the assassin succeeds in winking at all the players (except the last, who, by process of elimination, will soon learn who the assassin is), he or she is declared the winner.

Bango

WHERE TO PLAY

At a table

NUMBER OF PLAYERS

At least 3

EQUIPMENT

A deck of playing cards

OBJECT OF THE GAME

To be the first to match your hand to the card values called by the dealer

This game is a very simplified version of Bingo, well suited for children under eight.

One player shuffles the deck and deals five cards to each player at the table. The players place their cards faceup in front of them.

The dealer then turns over one card at a time from the pile of remaining cards and calls out its value. Any player with a card of matching value can turn that card facedown.

The first player who can turn all five cards facedown shouts, "Bango!" in order to win the round.

Keep track of the number of rounds won by each player if you want to declare a grand winner at the end of the game.

Battleship

WHERE TO PLAY

Best played at a table, but can be played as a travel game if the ride is steady

NUMBER OF PLAYERS

2, or 4 if you want to play with partners

EQUIPMENT

Paper and pencil for each player or team. Graph paper makes playing easier, but it is not essential.

OBJECT OF THE GAME

To sink your opponent's battleships by making successful "hits" on a grid

To prepare for the game, two grids, which represent naval battlefields, need to be drawn on each player's sheet. Each grid should have 10 blocks down and 10 blocks across for a total of 100 blocks. The blocks need not be very big -- a quarter of an inch is large enough.

Across the top row of each grid, number the blocks 1 through 10. Down the left edge of the grids, letter the blocks A through J. Label one grid for the player and the other for the enemy.

Players then must place battleships on the grid for their respective "sides" by drawing lines through consecutive blocks to indicate their ships' positions. Each player has four ships: an aircraft carrier of four blocks, a cruiser of three blocks, and two destroyers of two blocks apiece.

Players mark their battleships on their grids without letting the enemy see their positions. The blocks must be located on a straight line: horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. A battleship may not be split up.

When the grids are drawn and the battleships are in place, the players should determine who fires first. The player chosen to begin gets eleven shots to try to bit the other player's battleships.

That player calls out blocks of the grid according to letter and number: B-10, F-6, and so on, until he or she has used up eleven shots. As the firing player calls out the shots, the defensive player should mark them on his or her own grid with a number 1 to represent shots fired in the first round. The firing player should likewise keep track of his shots fired by marking with 1 the blocks at which shots were fired on his second grid for the enemy.

Then, after all eleven shots have been fired, the defensive player calls out the location of each shot and whether each was a "hit" (if it is one of the blocks on which a battleship is marked) or a "miss" (if it is an empty block). Players should circle the blocks that represent "hits" in order to distinguish them from "misses."

When the first player is done firing, the second player gets the chance to fire eleven shots and is told whether they are "hits" or "misses."

The second round begins with a new group of shots. This time the player is allowed eleven shots minus the number of "hits" that player scored in the previous round. If three "hits" were made in the first round, that player is given eight shots to fire in the second round. Shots are indicated by the number representing that round: Use 1 for shots fired in the first round, 2 for shots fired in the second round, and so on.

Since the object of the game is to sink the other players' ships, shots in rounds following the first should be called in the vicinity of the hits previously made. In order to constitute a sinking ship, all the blocks on which a ship is located must be struck.

Play continues until one player succeeds in sinking all the other's battleships. A player must announce the fact when one of his or her battleships is sunk.

VARIATION

To make the game more challenging, players do not have to reveal that ships have sunk until all have been sunk, thereby providing no clues as to the type of boat or number of blocks to be hit. (Battleship was also known humorously as Swiss Navy before it became popularized as a manufactured game.)

Beetle

WHERE TO PLAY

At a table or on the floor

NUMBER OF PLAYERS

2 to 6

EQUIPMENT

One die; pencil and paper for each player

OBJECT OF THE GAME

To be the first player to complete the drawing of a "beetle" after throwing the correct sequence of numbers

Determine the order of play by rolling the die. The highest roller begins the game.

The first player rolls the dice, trying to throw a 1. Each player gets one roll per turn. The numbers must be earned in order from 1 through 5.

When a player throws a 1, he or she begins a beetle by drawing its body. A 2 is needed next before drawing the head. A 3 is then required to add three legs on one side of the body, and, on the next turn, another 3 is needed to add the three remaining legs.

Players who roll a 4 can add one feeler, and a second 4 gets the other feeler. A 5 allows the player to draw one eye, and the first player to throw a second 5 and add the other eye may complete his or her beetle to win the game.

Beggar My Neighbor

WHERE TO PLAY

Anywhere

NUMBER OF PLAYERS

2 to 4

EQUIPMENT

A deck of playing cards for every 2 players

OBJECT OF THE GAME

To win all the cards from your opponent -- through chance more than skill

Shuffle the cards and deal out all of them into piles for each player.

The player at the dealer's left begins the game by laying down the first card from the top of his or her pile into a center pile, faceup.

If it is anything but a picture or an Ace, the next player follows by turning over one of his or her cards. If, however, it is a face card or an Ace, a penalty must be paid by the next player. One card must be paid for a Jack, two for a Queen, three for a King, and four for an Ace.

The player paying lays out the penalty cards one at a time. If none of them is a face card or an Ace, the first player may keep all of the cards in the pile. But, if another face card or Ace turns up, the original debt is cancelled, and the first player must now pay the appropriate number of cards to the second player.

Players keep exchanging debt penalties until no more face cards or Aces are turned up. The game then continues with the next player.

Eventually, players will run out of cards and will be eliminated from the game. The player who collects all the cards wins.

Bingo

WHERE TO PLAY

At a table

NUMBER OF PLAYERS

3 or more

EQUIPMENT

Paper and pencils; a container for the numbers (a hat, a box, or an envelope are all suitable); a large number of markers (coins, buttons, dried beans, etc.)

OBJECT OF THE GAME

To be the first to fill in a row of 5 numbers -- horizontally, vertically, or diagonally

Making the cards to play Bingo takes only a few minutes, while the fun lasts much longer.

First, cut a sheet of paper into 100 small squares and number them 1 through 100. Place these numbers in a container. A box, a hat, or an envelope are all easy to use.

Each player can make up his or her own game card with a sheet of paper and pencil. Draw a diagram consisting of twenty-five one-inch-square boxes, five across and five down. Fill in the first horizontal line with any five numbers from ...