Games Without Music for Children

The 'hostler' (a boy) should stand near the 'stable.' When the 'coach' (Game No. 24, p. 48) drives up, he goes to the driver and asks:

The 'hostler' leads one horse into each stall, and pretends to give them hay or corn. Then he carries water to them in a pail (a toy pail, price 1d., would do), and each drinks. After this he rubs them down, using a brush or his hand.

Directions.—Four little girls are selected to visit grandmamma, and to carry messages and presents to her. Grandma's 'house' is made by a ring of children (see Frontispiece, and description of same on p. 31), and the girl who is to be 'Grandma' sits in the ring knitting. An old-fashioned kerchief and cap help to make the 'grandma' more real, and a pair of spectacles adds further to the effect. If the 'coach' game be used in conjunction with this, the little girls may be the 'passengers' and go in the 'coach' to grandma's house. The 'door' (see description of Frontispiece on p. 31) should be opened by a little maid, then the four children enter and repeat the lines:

When 'grandma' has thanked each of the children, they take leave of her and return home.

The Guessing Rhyme, No. 92, might be given after playing the above game.

Directions.—A ring of children form the 'house' (see Frontispiece, and description of same on p. 31) or a classroom may be used for it. A few chairs and a table should be placed in the 'house,' and there should be a 'mother' and 'children.' A 'lady' (represented by a little girl) comes and knocks at the 'door,' and the 'mother' opens it.

The visitor then walks in and speaks to the children one by one; they should answer without hesitation. Children are generally very shy and awkward when addressed by strangers, but they should be encouraged to reply with confidence and ease. Perhaps these little games may help to give them confidence.

The game 'Paying Calls' might appropriately be followed by 'Afternoon Tea'; both these are played with great glee by the little girls.

The tea-tray is brought in by one of the children and placed on a table near the 'mother,' who pours out the tea. One of the children carries a cup to the visitor, and hands it to her, asking:—

A plate or d'oyley may be placed in the lap of the visitor for the bread or biscuit, which the child hands, saying:—

The 'mother' may serve the children with tea, or there may be other visitors calling, then the time of the children will be occupied in attending to them.

When Mrs. May has finished, the child says:—

By-and-by the visitor takes leave of the 'mother' and children, bidding each 'Good-day,' and the 'door' is opened for her by one of the children.

All the children join to form a large ring, and one of the taller girls stands in the centre to represent 'Spring.' The twelve flowers mentioned in the verses should be represented by twelve children standing at intervals in the ring. Before commencing the game, the child who represents 'Spring' might appropriately repeat the lines of Guessing Rhyme No. 74, p. 95.

The 'Flowers' step forward from the larger ring as the name of each is mentioned in the verses, and form a smaller circle round 'Spring.' The children should join hands to close up the gap which is left by each 'Flower' as it steps forward to join the small circle.

The 'Flowers' then join hands and repeat the verse following:—

'Spring' marches round inside the larger ring, and the 'Flowers' follow in order.

This game is played like the game of 'Spring Flowers' (see instructions on p. 56).

The girl chosen to represent 'Summer' may repeat the verse given in Guessing Rhyme No. 75, p. 95, and then the 'Flowers' step forward as their names are mentioned in the rhymes which follow.

The 'Flowers' then join hands and repeat the following rhyme:—

The 'Flowers' then dance round 'Summer.'

This game may be played either in the home, schoolroom or classroom. The words should be learnt previously as a recitation.

Materials required.—Three mugs or basins of various sizes, with a spoon in each; three stools or chairs of various sizes, and three beds. The latter may be made by laying shawls or coats on the forms or floor. The 'beds' should vary in size, the first being the largest, the next smaller, the third smaller still.

Three boys or girls should be chosen to represent the Three Bears, and these also should vary in size. The 'Bears' go outside the room.

The child who represents the little girl should know the rhymes well. When all is ready she comes in and, standing near the open door, says:—

The three bears come tramping in. The big one takes up his mug and says, 'Who has been at my porridge?' The second bear says the same; and then the little bear takes up his mug and says, 'Who has been at my porridge and eaten it all up?'

They proceed in the same way with the stools, the little bear finishing with 'Who has been sitting on my stool, and broken it?'

Then they go to the beds in order, asking one after the other, 'Who has been at my bed?' until it comes to the little bear's turn, when he says, 'Who has been at my bed? and here she is still!'

The little girl now opens her eyes, and, seeing the bears, jumps up quickly and runs off.

(A simple game for the very smallest children.)

One child comes out to stand in front of the class and says:—

He then imitates the cry of some animal, the 'bark' of a dog, the 'mew' of a cat, or the 'crowing' of the cock, and the children who wish to answer hold out the hand. The child who is allowed to give the name of the animal represented by the cry comes out (if the answer is correct) and makes the cry of another animal, first repeating the lines as before. The following are some of the cries that the children may be able to imitate, 'cluck, cluck' (hen), 'quacking' (duck), 'hissing' (goose), 'neighing' (horse), 'braying' (donkey), 'grunting' (pig), 'chirping' (bird) or talking like the parrot.

Preliminary.—Everyone knows how fond children are of representing ideas by action. It is for this reason that charades are recommended here. It will, of course, be necessary for the teacher to assist and suggest, but the children soon acquire confidence, and their acting, being perfectly natural, is often remarkably good.

A very simple little charade is given as an example.

The children who are to take part go out of the room for a few minutes with the teacher. We will suppose the word chosen is

Act I.—The teacher is to be the 'mother' and the rest are children. The 'mother' enters and sits down; presently the children come trooping in from school and gather round her. She asks what they have been doing at school, each one tells her something about its work or play, and then one child asks, 'May we have tea, mother, please?' 'Yes,' says the mother, 'go and take off your hats and we will get it ready.' (End of Act I.)

Act II.—The tea-table is prepared (see Game No. 1, which is similar) and the children sit down to tea. (The 'guessing' children should be told to listen carefully to what is said during tea.) One child asks for the cake to be passed, another for bread and butter, and so on. (End of Act II.)

Act III.—In the last act the whole word is to be given. The children pretend to have a baker's shop (see 'Shopping Game,' No. 6), one child keeps the shop, and the rest come to buy. One asks for a loaf, another for rolls, a third buys a tea-cake, and so on.

Bricks and tablets may be used for the loaves and cakes, or they may be made in the clay-modelling lesson and kept for this game.

Finding the word.—The children who have been listening are now asked to guess, and may be encouraged by remarks, such as, 'Think of the first act, and what the children said to their mother.'

'Remember the tea-table and what was said there.'

Some of the words thus obtained may be written on the blackboard, words for each act being put in separate columns.

'Now what did the baker sell?' In this way the answer is soon obtained.

It is well worth while to help the children to learn how to play charades, because it makes such a pleasant home-play for them in wintry and wet weather.

The children sit round the room, or stand in a semi-circle. The teacher should start the game, standing at the left extremity of the semi-circle, with the stick in her right hand, and repeat the lines:—

The children who do not know the game will probably omit to pass the stick into the left hand; as each one tries to do the trick, the teacher says 'right' or 'wrong' as the case may be, and those who are wrong are told to notice particularly how the teacher does it.

This is a favourite game and can be played with very little noise. At home, all the children would go out of the room except the one who remains behind to hide the thimble, but when played in the school or classroom, it will be sufficient if six children are sent out.

The thimble is to be placed where it can be seen, the children are then called in, and the one who has hid it says:—

As soon as any child sees the thimble, he takes a seat and remains quite still until all the seekers have seen it, and each in turn has sat down. Then the child who first saw the thimble takes it from its hiding-place, and has the privilege of remaining behind to hide it next time. Different children should go out each time, so that all may have a turn.

The children stand in a ring, or sit round the room, one child standing in the middle. The handkerchief is thrown from one to another, and the one who is 'out' tries to find a child with the handkerchief in its hand. As soon as he can do this, the child who was caught with the handkerchief has to stand in the centre, and the other one sits down, or stands in the ring, as the case may be.

As the game begins, the children say:—

Take twelve potatoes and place them in two rows of six each, thus:—

Two medium-sized spoons are required with which to take up the potatoes, and a basket is placed two or three yards away to receive them.

Two children are chosen to pick up the potatoes, one standing at the end of each row. The rest of the children may be grouped on the gallery, or may stand round in a ring.

The following verse is repeated either by teacher alone, or by all the children, as the spoon is handed to each child.

The last three words are said slowly, and the game is to begin immediately 'three' is said. The child who gets his row of potatoes first picked up and deposited in the basket wins the game. The potatoes are not to be touched, except by the spoon, and they are to be carried one by one in the spoon to the basket.

II. GAMES FOR THE PLAYGROUND

One child holds the ball in her hand and stands at a little distance from the wall against which it is to be thrown. The other children are gathered near in a group or semi-circle. When all are ready, the children say:—

The child who is holding the ball replies:—

'One, two, three, Pollie Burton' (supposing that to be the name of the child called), and throws the ball, all the children running off except the one whose name was mentioned. If the latter is successful in catching the ball, it is returned to the girl who had it first and the game is repeated, another name being substituted. If the ball is not caught, the child who was called picks it up and runs after the other children until she manages to hit some one with it. The child who is hit picks up the ball and all return to the starting place. The lines are again repeated and the game proceeds as before.

At the commencement of the game the children stand in a large ring, and the girl who is to be 'Lame lassie' stands in the centre. The children then say:—

They all run off, and 'Lame lassie' follows until she manages to touch some other child. Wherever the latter is touched, she must place her hand on that particular spot and run after the others until she is successful in reaching some one else. Sometimes a child will be holding its shoulder or elbow, or it may have to hold up one leg and hop on the other. This is a game which causes much fun and merriment.

The children form a ring, joining hands, and one child sits in the middle. Those who form the ring walk round singing to the tune of 'The Keel Bow.'

At the word 'stand' the child in the centre rises to her feet, and when the rhyme is ended she chooses a child to take her place in the centre and returns to the ring. All the children stand still while the choice is being made.

The children stand eighteen inches apart in a ring, not joining hands.

One child walks round the ring, holding a handkerchief in her hand, and repeating the words:—

At the word 'stop,' she drops the handkerchief near one of the children, and runs; the child picks it up and follows her as she threads her way in and out of the ring, until she is caught. Then the 'chaser' goes round the ring with the handkerchief, repeating the rhyme, and the child who was caught stands in the other one's place.

This game may be played by four children, each standing at a corner, with one in the centre for 'pussy,' or it maybe played by a ring of children.

The child who is 'pussy' stands in the centre of the ring, and the others say:—

Two children then beckon to each other and exchange places. (If a ring is formed, the two children should come from opposite sides of it.) As they are crossing, 'pussy' tries to catch one of them; if she succeeds, the child who is caught stands in the centre, and the old 'pussy' takes her place in the ring or corner.

One child is the 'wolf' and stands on one side of the playground, while the rest of the children are 'sheep,' and stand in a row on the opposite side.

The 'wolf' and 'sheep' then change sides, and in crossing the 'wolf' touches as many of the 'sheep' as she can; these all go to her side and help to catch more 'sheep' next time. The game proceeds until all the 'sheep' are caught except one, and that one is 'wolf' next time.

The children stand in two rows facing each other, thus:—

The following is sung to the tune of 'Pop Goes the Weasel.'

As the children begin to sing, 'a' and 'b' join hands and dance down to 'o,' then change hands and dance back again to []; then 'a' goes behind 'e' as shown by line 'g,' and stands at 'c,' while 'b' goes behind 'f,' following the line 'h' and stands at 'd'; 'e' and 'f' proceed in the same way, and each couple follows in turn.

The children stand in rows facing each other, each child holding the handkerchief of its opposite partner, and so helping to make a long tunnel. As they stand thus the verse is repeated:—

At 'three,' 'a' and 'b' run under, and stand at 'c' and 'd' respectively, extending handkerchiefs as quickly as possible, so that the next couple may be able to pass under. The couple who stood next 'a' and 'b' at the beginning follow, then the next couple, and so on until the 'tunnel' has moved round the playground.

The children stand behind each other in couples at one end of the playground, ready to dance off when the song begins. They start from point 'b,' and each holds his partner's hand until the other end of the playground is reached, point 'a,' then the hands are dropped; one goes to the left (following direction of arrow 'c'), the other to the right (arrow 'd'), and they meet again at the starting point 'b,' where they join hands and repeat the movement.

The following is sung to the tune of 'Weel may the Keel Row.'

Two rows of children are formed facing each other, with a long chalk line between. The children join hands.

[The first row advances to the chalk line, singing:—

Key F.

[First line recedes as second advances.

[Second line advances singing:—

[Second line retires, and first again advances singing:—

[Second line advances as first retires and sings:—

The two children named then come out, and joining hands with the line between them, try to pull each other over the line. If the child from first line succeeds, then both children join that line, or vice versâ, and the game begins again.

Squares are chalked on the ground, thus:—

The object of the game is to pass the pebble into each square with one foot only, following the numbers in order. The child who is to begin the game stands near the pebble, while the children say:—

The child then sends the stone into No. 1 square (hopping on one foot), from that into Nos. 2, 3, 4 and so on. If the stone be sent outside the square into which it should go, the player is out, and another begins. The child who first gets the pebble into No. 10 square, having passed it into each of the others successively, keeping on one foot all the time, wins the game.

The game is started by one child who catches another and says:—

The two then join hands and catch another, repeating the same words; then the three start off and catch another, and so on until all are caught.

The last child caught starts the game again, or the completed 'chain' may form a ring and play one of the ring games, Nos. 40, 41, 42.

One corner of the playground may be the 'house' in which the 'mother' sits. If the game is played by the children elsewhere, they will probably mark out the shape of the 'house' on the ground with stones or pebbles, a practice of which they are very fond. The children come to the 'house' where the 'mother' sits, and standing in front of her, ask:—

The children then run away, and after a little while return to the mother; she asks:—

The children then run off, and the 'mother' chases until she has caught one or more; these are kept prisoners in the 'house,' and the game proceeds until all are caught except one, and she is the 'mother' when the game begins again.

III. GUESSING RHYMES

Notes.—The Guessing Rhymes are intended to be read by the teacher to the children, who then try to find out the word. The verse should be repeated slowly two or three times before the children are asked to guess. At first only the familiar and well-known objects should be given, and even then it will sometimes be necessary to assist the imagination of the children by a question or two. Before reading the rhyme, the teacher should say whether it is a flower, object or animal, &c., that is to be guessed.

The rhymes about animals, flowers, and natural phenomena will not be difficult to the children if these subjects have been included in their object lessons, or have formed the subject of 'morning talks' (see p. 14, 'Kindergarten Guide').

The Nursery Rhymes will have been learnt by the children when they were in the Babies' class, and the rest of the rhymes belong to fairy tales that are commonly told to all children.