Jumping

1
Jumping Running Games
2
Who did Early American Children play with

• Since most families were large and had six or
  seven children, the children would play with
  their brothers and sisters, or their neighbors or
  children at school.

3
Learning Games

• To Early Americans these games helped children
  learn skills that they would need later in life
  as a farmers and parents. Games taught children
  how to aim and throw, how to solve problems and
  do things with their hands, and how to follow
  directions and rules. They also leaned to be
  fair, to wait their turn and to use their
  imaginations.

4

• Over a long span of time, one generation of
  children passes its games on to the next through
  oral traditions which have allowed plenty of room
  for regional, local, and neighborhood variations
  but have also preserved many of the things in
  tact.

5
Games

• Hopscotch
• Leap Frog
• Buckety-Buck
• Hop Step Jump
• Jump Rope

6
History of Hopscotch

• Hopscotch originated in Britain during the early
  Roman Empire. It was initially designed as a
  training regimen for Roman foot soldiers that ran
  the course in full armor and field packs, as it
  was thought this would improve their footwork
• The word "hopscotch" is a compound of "hop"
  (short jump) and "scotch" (scratched line).
  Called "scotch-hoppers", the term dates back at
  least to 1677.

7
Hopscotch

• Today's version of Hopscotch is much the same.
  To play hopscotch, the course is first laid out.
  Traditionally, children drew the course in the
  dirt of a playground, although it was often
  chalked on pavement when dirt was unavailable.
  Designs vary, but the course is usually composed
  of a series of linear squares interspersed with
  blocks of two lateral squares. Traditionally the
  course ends with a "safe" or "home" base in which
  the player may turn before completing the reverse
  trip. The home base may be a square, a rectangle,
  or a semi-circle. The squares are then numbered
  in the sequence in which they are to be hopped.

8
Playing the game (Hopscotch)

• The first player tosses the marker into the first
  square. The marker must land within the
  designated square and not touching a line or
  bouncing out. The player then hops through the
  course, skipping the square with the marker in
  it. Single squares must be hopped on one foot.
  For the first single square, either foot may be
  used. Side by side squares are straddled, with
  the left foot landing in the left square, and the
  right foot landing in the right square. Optional
  squares marked "Safe", "Home", or "Rest" are
  neutral squares, and may be hopped through in any
  manner without penalty.

9
Hopscotch continued

• Upon successfully completing the sequence, the
  player continues the turn by tossing the marker
  into square number two, and repeating the
  pattern.
• If the player steps on a line, misses a square,
  or loses balance, the turn ends. Players begin
  their turns where they last left off. The first
  player to complete one course for every numbered
  square on the court wins the game.

10
Hopscotch continued

• Although the marker is most often picked up
  during the game, historically, in the boy's game,
  the marker was kicked sequentially back through
  the course on the return trip and then kicked
  out.

11
Leap Frog

• Play in partners. Leapfrog is a children's game
  in which players vault over each other's stooped
  backs. The first participant rests hands on knees
  and bends over, this is called giving a back.
• The next player places hands on the first's back
  and leaps over by straddling legs wide apart on
  each side. On landing he stoops down and a third
  leaps over the first and second, and the fourth
  over all others successively, etcetera the
  number of participants is not fixed.
• When all the players are stooping, the last in
  the line begins leaping over all the others in
  turn. Try having races with your classmates by
  dividing in two teams.

12
Mumblety-Peg

• Played with a knife, Mumblety-Peg is a variant of
  "Follow The Leader". The basic form of the game
  requires any kind of a knife and two or more
  players. The object of the exercise is to get the
  knife to stick in the ground by having it fall or
  be flipped or tossed or dropped from various
  parts of each person. The first person to play
  may balance the tip of the knife blade on his
  index finger, for instance, and let it fall of
  the end of his finger toward the ground. If he
  makes it stick, every player following him must
  do the same. Each person scores a point for
  accomplishing the feat.
• Should he miss, then the next person has the
  discretion of choosing how and from where the
  knife is dropped, thrown, or flipped toward the
  ground. The game usually continues until the
  players are bored with the futility of the
  exercise.

13
Red Rover

• In this game, the kids form two opposing lines
  and attempt to "break through" the opposing
  team's line.
• At first, two teams are chosen of equal size, and
  they form two lines, facing each other and
  holding hands.
• One side starts by picking a person on the
  opposing team and saying "Red Rover, Red Rover,
  send ltJasongt right over"
• Jason then lets go of his teammates and begins a
  headlong rush for the other line. His goal is to
  break through the line by overpowering the kid's
  hold on each other.
• If Jason breaks through, he chooses one person
  for the opposing team to join his team, and they
  both go back and join in their line.
• If he fails to break through, Jason becomes part
  of the other team.
• Each team alternates calling people over until
  one team has all the people and is declared the
  winner.
• Note that since all the players are on the
  winning team at the end, there really are no
  losers in this game.

14
Needles Eye

• A common game in the Appalachian Mountains, the
  Needles Eye is based upon a chant that large
  groups of children would call out as they played
  the game. Children would line up in two rows with
  a space of six or eight feet between them, each
  line facing the opposing line. In practice much
  like "Red Rover", the chant was
• The needles eye that doth supplyThe thread that
  runs so trueI stump my toe and down I go,All
  for wanting (or "want of") you.
• At the conclusion of the chanted verse, one child
  would be invited to run across the open area
  between the two lines and attempt to break
  through the clenched hands of the other line.
  Another variation involved the children forming a
  ring and appointing one person to stand in the
  middle, much like the game "Farmer in the Dell"
  is played. That person would choose a person from
  the line to join them, and that person would join
  the first person in the center of the ring. In
  some games, the person who got to choose was then
  permitted to try to run through the ring and
  choose others to join him or her until that one
  could break through the ring, while in other
  variations they simply added to the inner group
  of children until no more could fill the center
  of the ring.

15
Buckety-Buck

• A Roughed-up version of Leap Frog. Played by two
  teams.
• Team A players link themselves into a line. The
  biggest and strongest player is the post. Each
  player holds a team mates head under their arm
  all the way down the line.
• One at a time players from team B run and jump
  onto Team As line, trying to break it down.
• If team A does break down, then it has to form
  another line, and team B has the fun of trying to
  break it down again. If team A holds the line
  then team B is IT.

16
Hop, Step, Jump

• This is a centuries-old playground game, tracing
  its origins back to England.
• To begin the game, a mark is made on the playing
  surface. This is called the starting point. At
  a distance of 25 feet from this mark, another
  mark is made. This is called the spring.
• The players arrange themselves at the starting
  point, and one after another, run to the second
  mark called the spring. From this point, each
  player first makes a HOP on one leg, and from
  this makes a long STEP, and from the step a long
  JUMP.
• Those players who cover the greatest amount of
  ground are declared the winner.

17
Running Games

• Just like children of today children of the past
  had lots of energy to burn. They enjoyed games
  that allowed them to run and compete with one
  another.

18
Sticky Apple

• Sticky Apple can be very fun. When you are
  tagged you must put one hand on the spot that was
  tagged. Running while holding a hard to reach
  spot like a knee or an ankle is not easy to do.

19
Running Games

• Cracking the Whip
• Hide and Go Seek
• Blind Mans Bluff
• Duck, Duck, Goose
• Drop the Handkerchief
• Spin the Trencher
• Post Office
• Tiger in the Corner
• Red Lion
• Buck
• Home Free
• Crows and Cranes
• Sardines
• Kick the Can
• Nine Hole
• Dodge ball

20
Cracking the Whip
Painting by Windslow Homer

• Any number can play. Someone is chosen as the
  "leader". Players form a line behind the leader
  and hold tightly to the belt or garment of the
  person in front of them.
• The "leader" quickly changes pace and speeds up
  or slows down. Sometimes the leader goes in
  circles and moves very fast - the others try to
  hold on. The leader attempts to get those holding
  on to let go. If they do, they must drop out of
  the game!
• This game is very hard for the person on the
  outside of the line as they may have to take 4
  steps for every one that the person in the center
  takes.

21
Hide and Go Seek

• The game use to be called Whoop! When all the
  children who were hiding were hidden they called
  out Whoop and the game began.
• In a standard game, one person is designated to
  be it. That person counts to 50 in a spot away
  from everyone else. Everyone else hides. The
  IT person needs to find everyone no matter
  where they are hidding.

22
Blind Mans Bluff

• The popular game consisted of one person who is
  blindfolded and chases the other players by their
  footsteps and movements. The rest of the players
  scramble around in all directions, trying to
  avoid being caught by the one that is
  blindfolded. The player who is caught is the one
  that becomes it.

23
Duck, Duck, Goose

• All the players sit in a circle, except the
  player who is it. He or she walks around the
  outside of the circle and touches each players
  head, saying duck. After calling out Duck a few
  times, It suddenly calls out goose. The player
  who is the goose has to jump up and chase It
  around the circle. It runs around the circle and
  sits in the gooses spot without being tagged,
  the goose becomes it.

24
Drop the Handkerchief

• Number of players 8
• To begin, all the players except one stand in a
  circle. The odd player runs around on the outside
  of the circle carrying a handkerchief, which he
  will eventually drop behind one of the circle
  players.
• The main idea of the game is to drop the
  handkerchief without the other players knowing.
  The players in the ring must look toward the
  center at all times, and can't turn their heads
  to watch the runner behind them. If the runner is
  creative, they can try to trick the other
  players. For instance, they may speed up the pace
  after the drop, or not vary in pace at all to
  leave no clue. The runner can also make a lot of
  noise to distract the other players.
• As soon as the player in the circle discovers
  that the handkerchief has been dropped behind
  him, he must pick it up and chase the runner who
  dropped it. The runner may run around the outside
  of the circle, or at any point through or across
  the circle. The goal is to reach the vacant space
  left by the person chasing. The circle players
  should lift their hands to allow both runners to
  pass freely through the circle. Whichever player
  reaches the vacant space first stands there, the
  one left out taking the handkerchief for the next
  round.

25
Spin the Trencher

• Many settlers families owned large wooden
  trenchers. Trenchers were long shallow dishes
  that were used for preparing or serving food.
  But for children they became a game.
• The bowl is put into the center on the floor and
  the players sit around it in a circle. One
  player is it. He or she spins the bowl and calls
  out the name of an animal. The player who is
  that animal has to run to the bowl and keep it
  spinning. As the animal gets up the person who
  is it tries to take their spot. If he succeeds
  the animal is now it. If a player allows the
  bowl to stop spinning he or she is out of the
  game.

26
Post Office

• In this game, each player chooses the name of a
  city. One player is the postal clerk. The rest
  of the players sit in a circle. The clerk calls
  out The mail is going from Asheville to
  Weaverville The player who chose those cities
  have to exchange seats without letting the postal
  clerk steal either of their seats.

27
Tiger in the Corner

• Five people play this game of tag. Four people
  stand to make corners of a large square. The
  fifth person is the tiger who stands in the
  center. When the tiger shouts, Tiger wants a
  corner! the other players must switch corners.
  The tiger tries to run to a corner before one of
  the other players does. If the tiger gets there
  first, the player who lost the corner becomes the
  new tiger.

28
Shadow Tag

• "It" tries to step on another player's shadow. If
  a player gets tired of running away, he/she must
  lie down so "it" cannot tag them.

29
Red Lion

• One person is the Lion and another is the Lion
  Keeper. The lion selects and area to be a den.
  The lion keeper stands near by the den. The rest
  of the players walk slowly toward the den singing
  Red Lion, Red Lion, come out of your den.
  Whoever you catch will be one of your friends.
  When the players get close the lion keeper shouts
  LOOSE! and the lion runs out to chase everyone
  except the lion keeper. If the lion chases
  someone and catches them they must say red lion
  while holding onto their capture. The person
  captured returns to the den and everything starts
  over this time with two lions until all the
  players get caught and become lions.

30
Amoeba Tag

• Two people are it. They hold hands and chase
  people, the person they catch joins the chain by
  linking hands. When another person is caught they
  can stay together or spilt 2 and 2 they must
  split even numbers and can link together at will.
  This game is played till' nobody is left.

31
Colored Eggs

• One person is the "wolf". The other people line
  up next to each other, with the wolf facing them.
  Everyone in line picks a color in their mind.
  The wolf then says..."knock-knock", the line
  answers "who's there?". Wolf replies "a big bad
  wolf with (curly or some other variation) hair".
• The line says.."what do you want?" Wolf answers
  "colored eggs". The line yells "what color?". The
  wolf then says a color. Whoever had "picked" that
  color then runs around a selected area (to the
  far oak tree in the yard and back to the line,
  for example), with the wolf giving chase.
• If the wolf catches the "egg", then that person
  becomes the wolf with the game starting over. If
  not, and all eggs make it back to line
  successfully, the wolf then calls out the next
  color, etc.

32
Buck

• This is a chase game for 6 players. The players
  gather in a circle and count off using the One
  Saw verse.
• The players whos line is Buck can start
  running. The countdown gets to two players the
  one that does not have the buck line is it. It
  is in charge of chasing and tagging. Anyone It
  tags has to help chase everyone else down.

33
Home Free!

• When the player that is It finds someone, they
  shout 1,2,3 and the players name. And both
  players run back to home base. If the hider
  gets to home base first, they shout 1,2,3, HOME
  FREE! That player is now safe, and must look for
  the other players. If the person that was it
  reaches home base first then the person that was
  caught becomes it in the next game. The game
  continues until all the players have been caught
  or have made it home safely. If no players get
  caught, the same person is It in the next game.

34
Crows and Cranes

• Line the girls up in two lines facing each other,
  one side being the cranes and the other the
  crows. When the YL calls "cranes" or "crows", all
  of the team called must turn and run to the wall
  behind them, hotly persuade by the other team. If
  a girl is tagged she joins the other team. This
  is kept up until one side has everyone in it.
  When "crab" is called no one moves, if they do
  they must go to join the opposing team. This
  helps keep the suspense going as they must wait
  to see exactly what you are going to call.

35
Sardines

• To play Sardines, one person hides while the rest
  count. When a seeker finds the hider, s/he must
  hide in the same place without being spotted by
  the other seekers. Eventually, all but one of
  the seekers end up crammed into the hiding
  spot-just like sardines in a tightly packed can.
  The first seeker to find the hiding spot is the
  hider in the new game.

36
Kick the Can

• Players draw a circle on the ground about sic
  feet wide and place an empty can in the middle of
  the circle. The person who is it has the job of
  guarding the can. One of the players outside the
  circle runs in and kick the can and everyone runs
  to hide. The person who is it gets the can and
  brings it back to the circle and sets it right
  side up and yells FREEZE! The other players must
  immediately stay where they are at. The person
  that is it calls out all the people that he can
  see. All those names that are called must return
  to the circle and they become the prisoners.
  While the person that is it tries to find the
  rest that are hiding the others that are hiding
  can run and kick the can over and free the
  prisoners. If there are no prisoners then the
  people hiding can run to the circle and yell home
  free. The last player to make it to the circle
  then becomes it for the next game.

37
Capture the Flag

• There were two teams.
•  
• Team 1 had the front yard and Team 2 had the back
  yard, or a field was split between the two
  teams.  The teams were given a time period, like
  5 minutes, to hide their flag in their part of
  the yard.  
•  
• optional During this period spies were sent out
  to see were the flag was hidden as well as
  look-outs to catch the spies. 
•  
• When the flag was hidden you call out that you
  were finished. Then you simply try to get the
  other teams flag. If you get caught and tagged by
  the opponent on their territory you had to go to
  jail and could only be freed by a teammate who
  grabs you when your opponent isn't looking. 
•  
• The first team to capture the flag wins.  In most
  versions you had to both get the flag, and bring
  it back to your side.

38
Nine Hole

• Each Player digs a hole near a wall, a line is
  drawn about sixteen feet (5M0 away from the
  holes. Each player stands next to their hole,
  except for one called a pitcher. The pitcher
  stands on the line and tries to get the ball into
  one of the holes. If the pitcher gets it in a
  hole everyone but the person the hole belongs to
  runs away. The person who owns the hall
  retrieves the ball and throws it at the other
  players. The person to get hit with the ball
  becomes the pitcher for the next game. If the
  person misses, however, they become the pitcher.
  A player is out of the game after missing 3
  times. The winner is the last person remaining
  in the game.

39
Dodge Ball

• Divide into two teams. One team forms a large
  circle and the other stands inside the circle.
  One person on the team forming the circle starts
  the game by throwing the ball at a person inside
  the circle. To avoid people getting hurt you
  must hit below the knees. When a player gets hit
  they join the other team.

40
Who has the button?

• The players form a circle and the person who is
  "it" leaves (or closes his/her eyes) while the
  others pass a "button" or another object around
  the circle. One person hides the object behind
  his/her back. All the other players put their
  hands behind their backs, too. Then "it" is
  allowed three guesses as to who is hiding the
  object. If "it" guesses correctly they exchange
  places and a new person is "it".

41
Poor Doggie

• "It" is the doggie who must try to make someone
  laugh. The players sit in a circle and Doggie
  goes to each player and barks, whines and
  imitates a dog. The players have to pet Doggie
  and say "Poor Doggie, Poor Doggie, Poor Doggie!"
  The player must not smile while saying this or
  he/she will become the next Doggie.

42
Ships Captain

• One player is chosen as the captain. S/he calls
  out orders to the rest of the players who are the
  crew. If a player does not follow an order
  correctly, s/he is out. (This decision is made by
  the captain who is always right.)
• Orders To the ship run to the captain's right
  To the island run to the captain's left Hit
  the deck lay down on your stomach (or if players
  don't want to get dirty, they can crouch down)
  Attention on deck salute and yell, "Aye, aye
  captain!" -- players may not move now until the
  captain gives the order of, "At ease!" (ie even
  if the captain gives a different order such as
  "to the ship" the crew must continue to remain at
  attention until told "at ease") Three men in a
  boat the crew must form groups of three and sing
  "Row, row, row your boat" Anybody who is not in a
  group of three is out. The love boat crew
  members grab a partner and dance. Anybody without
  a partner is out. Clear the deck everyone must
  have their feet up off the floor Scrub the deck
  everyone on their knees scrubbing Captain's
  Quarters everyone ran towards the captain.
  Man-over-board Players must find a partner as
  quickly as possible.  One partner must lay on
  their stomach while the other places their foot
  on their partner's back.  Children without a
  partner or pairs that are too slow are
  eliminated. A Periscope Every player falls on
  their back and sticks one leg in the air.  The
  last ones are eliminated. SHARK!!!! Everyone
  must run to a designated base (multiple bases can
  be used).  The last player to the base is
  eliminated. Crow's nest All players must find a
  partner.  The lightest player rides on their
  partner's back.  Those without partners or who
  assemble the crow's nest too slowly are
  eliminated. Three maids in a row Children form
  groups of three and sit in a vertical row.  The
  players who are the odd-man-out are eliminated.
  Sick turtle Everyone falls onto their backs and
  waves hands and feet in the air. Bow Run to the
  front of the boat Stern Run to the back Port
  Run to the left side of the boat Starboard Run
  to the right side of the boat. Row the Boat
  Each player finds a partner, sits face to face,
  holds hands, and pretends to row a boat.  Players
  who can't find partners or who are too slow are
  eliminated. Alternative rules If playing in a
  pool, all of the orders stay the same except for
  "hit the deck" which becomes "walk the plank."
  This means that crew members must bob underwater.
  
• To make the game less competitive, player do not
  get "out." Instead, if the captain notices that
  they do not follow an order, they must stand out
  for a count of 20.