Mary Christiana Hofmann

“ As he nears the flowers, the music grows louder and louder, and if he touches one, it stops; then he knows he has to do something with it. If he smells it, the music grows faint, and he knows he is wrong. ”

“ The game goes on until every one is out of the circle. If there should happen to be one who doesn't laugh when the handkerchief is on the floor, he surely deserves a prize.
LOCATION.
Choose two leaders who select sides. One begins by calling the name of some town or place and then counts ten. While he is counting, the opposite opponent must answer where the place is. If he fails to answer before ten is counted, he must drop out.
Then the leader of the other side takes his turn, and challenges some player of the opposite side.
The side which stands up the longest, wins the game. ”

“ The one in the middle feels her way toward the children, holding the cane in front of her. The first child who is touched with the cane must take hold of it. The blindfolded one says, "Grunt like a pig," and the one holding the cane must grunt, disguising her voice if possible. If the blindfolded one guesses who she is, they exchange places, and the game goes on as before, but if she fails, she has another turn and may tell the player to "Bark like a dog" or "Mew like a cat" until she guesses the right one. ”

“ The leader has a button which she gives to some player, as in "Button, button, who has the button?" The one who guesses who has the button takes the leader's place while the leader becomes a ghost and remains outside the circle. She can talk to the players in the circle, but no one except the one in the middle can answer her. Anyone who does, becomes a ghost with the leader. ”

“ The leaders begin by passing the clothespins, one at a time, down the line, each player being careful not to drop one. When one reaches the end of the line, the last player places it on the floor beside him until all twelve have been passed, then he passes them, the same as before, up the line to the leader.
The side which succeeds in passing all its clothespin back to its leader first is the victorious side. It is best to have a trial game first, so that the players may become used to passing with one hand, thus being able to do it rapidly for the regular game. ”

“ The players may choose partners in any way desired. The partners play together.
The leader gives a signal, watches the time and keeps tally. When the signal is given a player, with his partner, steps to the table containing the peanuts, each takes a knife and when the leader says "go," each places as many peanuts as he can on the blade of the knife and carries it with one hand to the other end of the room, where he deposits the peanuts and returns for more. As many trips can be made as the time will allow. ”

“ Any number can play this game, the more the merrier. Each player is told to play some imaginary instrument. The leader with an imaginary baton, begins by humming some lively, familiar tune. The players follow with motions suitable to their instruments and sing the tune the leader is humming.
When the leader pretends to play some instrument, the player who has that imaginary instrument, must pretend he is leader and beat time with the baton, but as soon as the real leader changes the instrument or beats time again the player must continue with his own instrument. ”

“ Place the baskets in a row on the floor so their numbers cannot be seen.
Choose sides, giving the red checkers to the leader of one side and the black checkers to the other. One side lines up about 10 ft. away from the baskets, the leader giving each player a checker; if there are any left he keeps them and has the privilege of throwing them. Each one in turn throws his checker into any basket, trusting to luck that they fall into a basket with a number on it.
When all have played the leader turns up each basket to see its number and counts the number of checkers thrown into it. ”

“ If a word can't be made of all three syllables, maybe it can be made of two, but if it is then impossible to construct a word, the player must wait until the rest draw three syllables again, and perchance he may be able to construct two words, using the syllables he could not use before.
The one constructing the most words, wins the game. ”

“ Each boy has to keep his eye on the one who is winking and on the girl in his chair, for if he is not watching, she may escape before he has time to touch her, and then it is his turn to do the winking and get a girl for his chair.
If the winking is done quickly it adds to the interest of the game. No boy can keep hold of a girl all the time; he must only touch her when she starts to leave her place, and then if she is beyond arm's length, he cannot call her back.
DOUBLE TAG.
The children stand in pairs, one behind the other, in the form of a circle, all facing the center. ”

“ The player who is out is given five trials in which to guess; if he does not succeed, he must go out again, but if he has listened attentively to one or two, and has guessed correctly, the player whose shouting gave away the proverb is then sent out and the game continues as before. ”

“ Each player repeats what the leader has said, but if the player next to him is "horned," he must substitute "horned" for "genteel" when referring to him.
When each one has repeated this tale, the players who have "horns," and there will be many, must pay a forefeit for every "horn" they have.
RHYMES.
Provide each player with slips of paper and pencil. The hostess then announces that each one is to write some question at the top of the paper, fold the paper over and pass it to the player at the left, who writes a noun, folds the paper over and passes it to the left again. ”

“ Effective lights may be made from cucumbers by scraping out the inside and cutting holes in the rind for eyes and nose, and placing a candle in each.
Persons dressed as ghosts may receive the guests and usher them into the room where the fun is to be. As soon as a person enters, the hostess, who is not a ghost, blindfolds the victim, and those already in the room take turns shaking hands with him. He has to guess who each person is. It is marvellous how many mistakes will be made, even if the guests are the best of friends. ”

“ Musical Chairs, or Going to Jerusalem, is a favorite game of the children. Someone who plays the piano well starts up a lively tune and the children march around a row of chairs which have been arranged facing alternately in opposite directions. There should be one less chair than the number of players. ”

“ One child, the gardener, gathers up all the spools and hides them in all the corners and out-of-the-way places in the room, only one spool being in each place. When all are hidden, the children are summoned in to hunt for the flowers. ”

“ As a child sees someone passing, he calls out the number for his side; if a woman, he says 2; if a man and woman together, it will be 3, and so on.
If the children are looking upon the same street the side that calls its number out first adds it to its score. It is more exciting if the different sides have different streets to look out on. ”

“ The answers will probably be mixed as the players do not know the trick. Each one who misses pays a forfeit, and the leader questions the next player. When one or two do catch on, the more ridiculous they make their answers, the funnier the game. ”

“ The children are seated on the floor, around a sheet or tablecloth. This is held tight by the players about 1 1/2 ft. from the floor, and a feather is placed in the middle.
One is chosen to be out, and at a given signal from the leader, the feather is blown from one to the other, high and low, never allowed to rest once.
The player outside runs back and forth, trying to catch the feather. When he does succeed, the person on whom it rested or was nearest to, must take his place. ”

“ When the gardener says something about a bouquet, all the children rise and exchange seats. Then the "gardener" tries to get a seat, and if he succeeds, the person who has no seat becomes the "gardener" and the game goes on as before. ”

“ Any number may play this game. If there are men and women it is more amusing.
Divide the company into groups of five or six. Each group sits around a table upon which are pins, needles and thread, scissors, for each player but no thimbles, and strips of tissue paper, colored and white.
The hostess hands each guest a large wooden clothes-pin which is to be dressed as a doll, using the tissue paper for dresses and hats.
All begin to work at a given signal and the hostess allows a certain length of time for the dressmaking. ”

“ Each leader guards his own flag.
The children endeavor to secure their opponents' flag. If a leader tags anyone who crosses the boundary and comes too near the flag, that child is out of the game. However, if one does succeed in capturing the other's flag, and carries it over the boundary into his side, that side is victorious.
FLAGS OF ALL NATIONS.
Flags of all nations are collected and displayed around the room. Each one is numbered. The guests are given pencil and paper with numbers down the left hand side. ”

“ The players who repeat every word correctly, adding their description of the eagle, remain "genteel," but those who make a mistake become "horned" instead of "genteel."
The leader has charge of the "horns" which may be toothpicks or pieces of paper twisted up tight. For every mistake a "horn" is tucked in the player's hair. ”

“ Every effort is made on the part of the ghosts to induce the players to answer. The button keeps going around the inside circle, the one depositing the button becoming a ghost when a correct answer is given and the other one taking his place.
The game continues until all are ghosts. If there was one who was not enticed, that one wins the game. ”