Clarence Squareman

“ The fun of the game is to put down the wrong card without, any one suspecting you. Naturally, it is not often that the cards run straight on, as no one may play out of turn, and if one player thinks another has put down the wrong card, he says, "I suspect you." The player must then show his card, and if it should not be the one he said, he must take all the cards laid down and add them to his pack; if, however, the card happens to be the right one, then the accuser must take the cards. The player who first succeeds in getting rid of his cards wins the game. ”

“ This is a game in which no one is allowed to smile or laugh. All the players, except one, sit in a row or half circle; one goes out of the room and returns with a stick or poker in his hand, and a very grave and solemn face. He is supposed to have just returned from a visit to Buff. The first player asks him: "Where do you come from?" "From Buff." ”

“ When the player who is outside re-enters the room, one of the company counts "One, two, three," then all the company simultaneously shout out the word that has been given to him or her of the proverb that has been chosen.
If there are more players present than there are words in the proverb, two or three of them must have the same word. The effect of all the company shouting out together is very funny. All that is necessary is for the guesser to have a sharp ear; then he is pretty sure to catch a word here and there that will give him the key to the proverb. ”

“ It will be seen that there are three ways of losing a "life." First, the player may lay down a letter, and on being challenged be unable to give the word. Secondly, he may himself challenge another player who is not at fault. Thirdly, he may be obliged to add the final letter to a word, and so complete it.
This is a most amusing game for a large party, for as the different persons lose their three "lives," the players gradually dwindle down to two or three, when it gets very exciting to see who will be the last person left in, for he or she will be declared the winner. ”

“ He puts this in his pocket and then addresses the ants:
"Dear friends, I am very hungry; would any of you kindly give me some food?"
"I have nothing but a grain of barley," says the ant spoken to.
"Thank you; that is of no use to me," replies the grasshopper, and goes on to the next player. As soon as any one offers the grain of food which the grasshopper has written down the paper must be produced, and the one who guessed the word pays a forfeit and becomes grasshopper. If no one guesses the word, the grasshopper pays a forfeit. ”

“ The great object of the game, then, is to clear the board of the opponent's men, or to hem them in in such a way that they cannot be moved, whichever player hems in the opponent or clears the board first gains the victory. As no man can be moved more than one step diagonally at a time (except when taking opponent's pieces) , there can be no taking until the two parties come to close quarters; therefore, the pushing of the men continuously into each other's ground is the principle of the game. ”

“ One of the most popular games at a party is certainly "Consequences;" it is a very old favorite, but has lost none of its charms with age. The players sit in a circle; each person is provided with a half sheet of notepaper and a pencil, and is asked to write on the top— (1) one or more adjectives, then to fold the paper over, so that what has been written cannot be seen. Every player has to pass his or her paper on to the right-hand neighbor, and all have then to write on the top of the paper which has been passed by the left-hand neighbor (2) "the name of the gentleman;" ”

“ To play this game seat yourselves in a circle, take a clean duster or handkerchief, and tie it in a big knot, so that it may easily be thrown from one player to another. One of the players throws it to another, at the same time calling out either of these names: Earth, Air, Fire, or Water. If "Earth" is called, the player to whom the ball is thrown has to mention something that lives on the earth, as lion, cat; if "Air" is called, something that lives in the air; if "Water," something that lives in the water; but if "Fire" is called, the player must keep silence. ”

“ Speculation is a game at which any number of persons may play. The stakes are made with counters or nuts, and the value of the stakes is settled by the company. The highest trump in each deal wins the pool.
When the dealer has been chosen, he puts, say, six counters in the pool and every other player puts four; three cards are given to each person, though they must be dealt one at a time; another card is then turned up, and called the trump card. The cards must be left upon the table, but the player on the left-hand side of the dealer turns up his top card so that all may see it. ”

“ The blind man then makes a noise, such as, for instance, the barking of a dog, a street cry, or anything he thinks will cause the player he has caught to betray himself, as the captive must imitate whatever noise the blind man likes to make. Should the blind man detect who holds the stick, the one who is caught has to be blind man; if not, the game goes on until he succeeds. ”

“ As the music begins to stop and die away, the pigeons should return to their dovecote, and when the last note sounds they should all be settled again. The farmer's boy now runs round the ring, closing it in and making all safe for the night. ”

“ The best way to play this game is for the players to divide themselves into two groups, namely, actors and audience. Each one of the actors should then fix upon a proverb, which he will act, in turn, before the audience. As, for instance, supposing one of the players to have chosen the proverb, "A bad workman quarrels with his tools," he should go into the room where the audience is seated, carrying with him a bag in which there is a saw, a hammer, or any other implement or tool used by a workman ”

“ A leader is chosen for each group of eight or ten players, the players in a line and the leader eight or ten feet away at the side. A row in the school-room may be taken as a group, with a leader standing in front. The leader tosses the ball or bean bag to the players in turn, beginning at the head. Any player missing goes to the foot. If the leader misses he goes to the foot and the one at the head becomes leader. If the ball goes twice around and the leader does not miss, he goes in the line just above those who have missed and the head player becomes leader. ”

“ This is a simple game for little children. It is played either with a pocket-handkerchief, or, if more than four want to play, with a table-cloth or small sheet. Each person takes hold of the cloth; the leader of the game holds it with the left hand, while with the right he makes pretense of writing on the cloth while he says: "Here we go round by the rule of contrary. When I say 'Hold fast,' let go; and when I say 'Let go,' hold fast." The leader then calls out one or other of the commands, and the rest must do the opposite, of what he says. Any one who fails must pay a forfeit. ”

“ Any one who fails either to cease working or to begin again at the right time, must pay a forfeit.
A somewhat more elaborate and livelier game of Trades is played by each boy in the party choosing a trade which he is supposed to be carrying on. The leader must invent a story, and, standing in the middle, must tell it to the company. ”

“ As each bird's name is called, the owner must imitate its note as well as he can, but when the owl is named, all hands must be put behind the chairs, and remain there until the next bird's name is mentioned. When the Bird-catcher cries "All the birds," the players must together give their various imitations of birds. Should any player fail to give the cry when his bird is named, or forget to put his hands behind his chair, he has to change places with Bird-catcher. ”

“ Sometimes it happens that a second player in paying puts down a court card, and the third player in paying him puts down another, and so on, until perhaps the fourth or fifth player actually gets the cards in the end.
RIDDLES
Few children think they will ever tire of playing games; but all the same, toward the end of a long evening, spent merrily in dancing and playing, the little ones begin to get too weary to play any longer, and it is very difficult to keep them amused. ”

“ If either ace, king, queen, or jack happen to be turned up for trumps, the dealer may take whatever is in the compartment with that mark; but when Pope is turned up for trumps, the dealer takes all the counters in Pope's compartment as well as those in the "game" compartment, besides a counter for every card dealt to each player, which must, of course, be paid by the players. There is then a fresh deal.
It is very seldom, however, that Pope does turn up for trumps; when it does not happen, the player next to the dealer begins to play, trying to get rid of as many cards as possible. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ Blackboard Relay
This is like the blackboard relay played in the third grade, but instead of marks and letters, words must be written; these may be required to form a sentence, numbers may be written and afterwards added, subtracted, etc., by the succeeding players, or each player may [pg 103] write his own name. It is often interesting to have the last player required to erase all his team has written, or each child may erase his own writing, passing the eraser as he did the chalk. ”

“ At the word "crown" the player must keep the point of the pencil firmly on the paper, and open his eyes. If the pencil is not within the circle, or if within but with the point of the pencil resting upon a line, then the player gives the pencil to the next player, having scored nothing.
If, on the contrary, at the end of the rhyme, the pencil is found to be resting in a division of the circle, for instance, marked "70," that number is placed beneath the player's name, and the section is struck by drawing a line across it. ”

“ On a signal from the teacher, the last children in the alternate rows, run down the aisles, turn to their left; run down the other aisle, turn on reaching their seats, and tag the person who sits in front of them. The person tagged does as the first person did, tagging the person in front only when he reaches his starting place. Each person running when tagged. Equal numbers should be chosen for each row. The object of the game is to see which row is the winner, depending entirely upon alertness, quickness of mind and honesty in playing with fellow students. ”

“ If at last an ace be played, the neighbor of the one who plays it must pay him four cards; if a king three cards, if a queen two, and if a jack one. The one who played the court card also takes all the cards that have been played, and puts them under his own pack. If, however, in playing for a court card, one of the players puts down another court card, then his neighbor must pay him, and he takes the whole pack instead of the previous player. ”

“ Lots are drawn in order to decide who shall be the grasshopper; the ants then seat themselves in a circle, while the grasshopper writes on a piece of paper the name of a grain or food which a grasshopper might be supposed to like. ”

“ The person upon whom the shoe is found must become the customer, while the customer takes his place in the circle on the floor.
Flying
This game requires for the leader a person who can tell a story or make a little amusing speech. Each one who plays must place the right hand upon the left arm. The leader then tells a story, during the telling of which whenever he mentions any creature that can fly, every right hand is to be raised and fluttered in the air to imitate the action of flying. At the name of a creature that does not fly, the hands must be kept quiet, under pain of a forfeit. ”

“ Your companion would have to think of all the animals' names that he could remember which contained nine letters, and commenced with the letter C and ended with "e." If the second player after guessing several times "gives it up," the first player would tell him that the animal thought of was "Crocodile," and would then think of another Bird, Beast, or Fish, and write it down in a similar manner. If, however, the name of the animal be guessed, then it would be the second player's turn to take the paper and pencil.
Noughts and Crosses
This is a game every boy or girl thoroughly enjoys. ”