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MY BOOK OF INDOOR GAMES

CLARENCE SQUAREMAN

INDEX OF INDOOR GAMES

Acting Proverbs 37 Acting Rhymes 54 Adventurers 41 All Fours 64 Alphabet Game 84 Animal, Vegetable or Mineral 45 Ants and the Grasshopper 91 Balancing Spoon 114 Band Box 29 Beggar My Neighbor 69 Bingo 96 Birds, Beasts and Fishes 61 Bird Catcher 26, 105 Birds Fly 100 Blackboard Relay 102 Blind Man's Buff 18 Blind Man's Wand 47 Bob Major 24 Bridge of Knives 112 Buff Says Buff 18 Buzz 16 Card Games 13 Cat and Mouse 17 Cat and Rat 104 Cat's Cradle 81 Charades 28 Checkers 56 Changing Seats 102 Chinese Shadows 118 Coach and Four 93 Cock Fighting 83 Consequences 43 Circle Ball 106 Crambo 44 Coin Trick 115 Cross Questions and Crooked Answers 11 Crows' Race 104 Cushion Dance 77 Dancing Egg 111 Dancing Pea 114 Dead Ball 106 Diamond Ring 78 Dodge 107 Dominoes 58 Draw a Pail of Water 87 Drop the Handkerchief 15 Duck Under the Water 88 Dumb Crambo 24 Dwarf 21 Earth, Air, Fire and Water 44 Eraser Game 106 Eraser Relay 108 Family Coach 14 Farmyard 77 Feather 50 Find an Object While Blindfolded 117 Fives and Threes 60 Flag Race 103 Flowers 80 Flying 47 Forbidden Letter 78 Force of a Water Drop 115 Fox and Chickens 107 Fox and Geese 83 Fox Chase 103 French Roll 27 Frog in the Middle 100 Gallery of Statutes 51 Game of Cat 34 Game of Conversation 50 Garden Gate 27 Giant 83 Grand Mufti 79 Green Gravel 59 Hand Shadows 118 Hands Up 48 Hide the Thimble 103 Honey Pots 85 Hot Boiled Beans and Bacon 52 How to Light a Candle Without Touching It 112 How, When and Where 21 Huckle, Buckle, Beanstalk 102 Huntsman 51 Hunt the Ring 49 Hunt the Slipper 48 I Apprenticed My Son 17 I Love My Love With an A 43 I Point 78 I Say Stoop 100 I Sell My Bat, I Sell My Ball 81 I Suspect You 68 It 53 Jolly Miller 55 Judge and Jury 48 Jumping the Rope 105 Last Man 102 Little Lady 99 Living Pictures 34 Living Shadows 119 Lodgings to Let 49 Lost and Found 45 Lubin Loo 97 Magic Music 16 Magic Thread 111 Magic Whistle 92 Magic Writing 79 Malaga Raisins 93 Man and Object 54 Man With His Head the Wrong Way 117 Mother, Mother, the Pot Boils Over 89 My Master Bids You Do as I Do 52 Mysterious Ball 117 Noughts and Crosses 61 Oats and Beans and Barley 95 Obstinate Cork 112 Old Maid 66 Old Soldier 22 Oranges and Lemons 12 Our Old Grannie Doesn't Like Tea 42 Paper and Pencil Games 61 Personations 83 Pigeon House Game 95 Poison 103 Pope Joan 67 Postman 20 Postman's Knock 42 Preliminary Ball 107 Proverbs 38 Puss in the Corner 20 Questions and Answers 88 Racing and Counting Scores 101 Red Cap and Blue Cap 53 Revolving Pins 116 Riddles 69 Riding the Bicycle 104 Rule of Contrary 26 Running Maze 92 Ruth and Jacob 56 Sally Water 94 Schoolmaster 25 School Room Basket Ball 101 School Room Tag 108 Sea King 17 Seat Tag 106 Sentinel Drop 115 Serpentine Maze 110 Shadows 118 Shouting Proverbs 38 Simon Says 26 Six and Five Make Nine 113 Slap Jack 104 Slow Poke 110 Snap 65 Snip, Snap, Snorum 66 Speculation 63 Spelling Game 86 Stool of Repentance 49 Squirrel and Nut 101 Suggestive Breathing Work 103 Swimming Needles 111 Tag Me or Heads Up 105 Tag the Wall Relay 110 Teacher 105 Teacher and Class 109 Think of a Number 119 Third Man 107 Thought Reading 70 Tit, Tat, Toe 61 To Balance a Coffee Cup 112 To Guess Two Ends of a Line of Dominoes 120 To Tell the Age of Any Person 120 Trades 61 Travelers' Alphabet 14 Tricks and Puzzles 110 Twirl the Trencher 11 Vanishing Dime 113 What's My Thought Like? 81 Wonderment 89

INTRODUCTION

"Let the child imbibe in the full spirit of play. There is nothing like it to keep him on the path of health, right thinking and mind development."

That is the guiding purpose of the author. The reader will find in this book a collection of old and present day games. The student of Play has long realized that there are no new games, that all our games of today are built on the old timers.

The purpose of My Book of Indoor Games is to furnish amusement, entertainment and to be the means of sociability. So very often the question comes up--"What shall we do?" In many cases this book serves only as a reminder, the games and parlor tricks are well known but cannot be recalled at the critical moment. A combination, such as this, of the best of the old-fashioned games and a carefully compiled list of the games of today will furnish much help to the young in their search of entertainment and amusement.

But the book will be equally useful to grownups. The author has seen staid, respectable people play "Lubin Loo" with as much zest and spirit as the youngest group of children. All of us have played "Going to Jerusalem." The spirit must be there; there is nothing so contagious as the spirit of play.

TWIRL THE TRENCHER

This is a game which almost any number of children can play.

The players seat themselves in a circle, and each takes the name of some town, or flower, or whatever has been previously agreed upon. One of the party stands in the middle of the circle, with a small wooden trencher, or waiter, places it upon its edge, and spins it, calling out as he does so the name which one of the players has taken. The person named must jump up and seize the trencher before it ceases spinning, but if he is not very quick the trencher will fall to the ground, and he must then pay a forfeit. It is then his turn to twirl the trencher.

A very similar game to this is "My Lady's Toilet." The only difference is that each player must take the name of some article of a lady's dress, such as shawl, earring, brooch, bonnet, etc.

CROSS QUESTIONS AND CROOKED ANSWERS

To play this game it is best to sit in a circle, and until the end of the game no one must speak above a whisper.

The first player whispers a question to his neighbor, such as: "Do you like roses?" This question now belongs to the second player, and he must remember it.

The second player answers: "Yes, they smell so sweetly," and this answer belongs to the first player. The second player now asks his neighbor a question, taking care to remember the answer, as it will belong to him. Perhaps he has asked his neighbor, "Are you fond of potatoes?" and the answer may have been, "Yes, when they are fried!"

So that the second player has now a question and an answer belonging to him, which he must remember.

The game goes on until every one has been asked a question and given an answer, and each player must be sure and bear in mind that it is the question he is asked, and the answer his neighbor gives, which belong to him.

At the end of the game each player gives his question and answer aloud, in the following manner:

"I was asked: 'Do you like roses?' and the answer was: 'Yes, when they are fried!'" The next player says: "I was asked: 'Are you fond of potatoes?' and the answer was: 'Yes, they are very pretty, but they don't wear well.'"

ORANGES AND LEMONS

Two of the players join hands, facing each other, having agreed privately which is to be "Oranges" and which "Lemons." The rest of the party form a long line, standing one behind the other, and holding each other's dresses or coats. The first two raise their hands so as to form an arch, and the rest run through it, singing as they run:

"Oranges and Lemons, Say the bells of St. Clement's; You owe me five farthings, Say the bells of St. Martin's; When will you pay me? Say the bells of Old Bailey. I do not know, Says the big bell of Bow. Here comes a chopper to light you to bed! Here comes a chopper to chop off your head!"

At the word "head" the hand archway descends, and clasps the player passing through at that moment; he is then asked in a whisper, "Oranges or Lemons?" and if he chooses "oranges," he is told to go behind the player who has agreed to be "oranges" and clasp him round the waist.

The players must be careful to speak in a whisper, so that the others may not know what has been said.

The game then goes on again, in the same way, until all the children have been caught and have chosen which they will be, "oranges" or "lemons." When this happens, the two sides prepare for a tug-of-war. Each child clasps the one in front of him tightly and the two leaders pull with all their might, until one side has drawn the other across a line which has been drawn between them.

MUSICAL CHAIRS OR GOING TO JERUSALEM

This game must be played in a room where there is a piano.

Arrange some chairs, back to back, in the center of the room, allowing one chair less than the number of players. Some one begins to play a tune, and at once the players start to walk or run round the chairs, to the sound of the music.

When the music stops, each player must try to find a seat, and as there is one chair short, some one will fail to do so, and is called "put." He must carry a chair away with him, and the game goes on again until there is only one person left in, with no chair to sit upon. This person has won the game.

THE TRAVELER'S ALPHABET

The players sit in a row and the first begins by saying, "I am going on a journey to Athens," or any place beginning with A. The one sitting next asks, "What will you do there?" The verbs, adjectives, and nouns used in the reply must all begin with A; as "Amuse Ailing Authors with Anecdotes." If the player answers correctly, it is the next player's turn; he says perhaps: "I am going to Bradford." "What to do there?" "To Bring Back Bread and Butter." A third says: "I am going to Constantinople." "What to do there?" "To Carry Contented Cats." Any one who makes a mistake must pay a forfeit.

THE FAMILY COACH

This is a very good old game, and is most amusing if you can find some one who is a good story-teller.

The players sit in a circle and every one, except the story-teller, takes the name of some part of a coach or its equipments; for instance, door, step, wheels, reins, box-seat, and so on.

When all are ready, the story-teller begins a tale about an old coach and what happened to it, how it went on a journey, came to grief, was mended, and started off again. The story should be told fluently, but not too quickly. Every time any part of the coach is mentioned, the player who has taken that name must rise from his seat and then sit down again.

Whenever "the coach" is mentioned, all the players, with the exception of the story-teller, must rise. Any one who fails to keep these rules must pay a forfeit.

DROP THE HANDKERCHIEF

A ring is formed by the players joining hands, whilst one child, who is to "drop the handkerchief," is left outside. He walks round the ring, touching each one with the handkerchief, saying the following words:

"I wrote a letter to my love, But on my way, I dropped it; A little child picked it up And put it in his pocket. It wasn't you, it wasn't you, It wasn't you--but it was you."

When he says "It was you," he must drop the handkerchief behind one of the players, who picks it up and chases him round the ring, outside and under the joined hands, until he can touch him with the handkerchief. As soon as this happens, the first player joins the ring, whilst it is now the turn of the second to "drop the handkerchief."

MAGIC MUSIC

One of the players is sent out of the room, and the rest then agree upon some simple task for her to perform, such as moving a chair, touching an ornament, or finding some hidden object. She is then called in and some one begins to play the piano. If the performer plays very loudly, the "seeker" knows that she is nowhere near the object she is to search for. When the music is soft, then she knows she is very near, and when the music ceases altogether, she knows that she has found the object she was intended to look for.

BUZZ

This is a very old game, but is always a very great favorite. The more the players, the greater the fun. The way to play it is as follows: The players sit in a circle and begin to count in turn, but when the number 7 or any number in which the figure 7 or any multiple of 7 is reached, they say "Buzz," instead of whatever the number may be. As, for instance, supposing the players have counted up to 12, the next player will say "13," the next "Buzz" because 14 is a multiple of 7 --the next player would then say "15" the next "16," and the next would, of course, say "Buzz" because the figure 7 occurs in the number 17. If one of the players forgets to say "Buzz" at the proper time, he is out. The game then starts over again with the remaining players, and so it continues until there is but one person remaining. If great care is taken the numbers can be counted up to 70, which, according to the rules before mentioned, would, of course, be called Buzz. The numbers would then be carried on as Buzz 1, Buzz 2, etc., up to 79, but it is very seldom that this stage is reached.

"I APPRENTICED MY SON."

The best way of describing this game is to give an illustration of how it is played. The first player thinks of "Artichoke," and commences: "I apprenticed my son to a greengrocer, and the first thing he sold was an A."

Second player: "Apple?" "No."

Third player: "Almonds?" "No."

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