APPALACHIAN GAMES Many taken from The Foxfire Book of Appalachian Toys & Games Edited by Linda Garland Page & Hilton Smith CANDY BREAKIN'       MARBLES WHO’S_GOT_THE_THIMBLE       *BULL RING BUM, BUM, BUM          JUMP_ROPE OLD_GRANNY_WIGGINS_IS_DEAD      DROP_CLOTHESPINS_IN_A_JAR PLEASED_AND_DISPLEASED

CANDY BREAKIN’

1. Break wrapped stick candy into halves and tape the wrapping over the ends of the halves so that the candy is protected.  (Cracker Barrel is a good place to purchase this type candy.)

2. Place the candy in a bowl or basket.

3. One person holds the basket of candy while the players form a line of partners.

4. When a set of partners arrives at the basket, they reach into the basket at the same time, each take out a piece of candy, and look at it.

5. If their pieces of candy don’t match, they put the candy back into the basket.  If the candy does match, they get to keep the candy and eat it.

6. As partners finish their turns, the partner on the right turns right, the partner on the left turns left, and they meet in the back of the line to begin again.

7. The game continues until the participants grow tired of the game or the players run out of candy.

8. It is fun to play fiddle music or sing a mountain song while playing a candy breakin’.

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MARBLES

       Most players had a favorite shooting marble, which was called a taw.  It was usually larger than the other marbles and some mountain boys liked to use steel ball bearings as their taws.  My dad played this game when he was a boy and I played this game when I was a little girl.

 

*BULL RING

1. Draw a big ring called the Bull Ring.  It can be as big as 8 feet in diameter.

2. Players decide how many marbles they each are going to put in the ring.  These marbles are up for grabs so they can be lost to the other players.

3. Players take turns shooting their taws into the ring and trying to knock as many marbles out of the ring as they can.  Each player gets to keep all of the marbles that he or she knocks out of the ring.

4. A player continues to shoot as long as he continues to knock marbles out of the ring with his taw, as long as his taw doesn’t go out of the ring, and as long as he doesn’t touch a marble that is in the ring.

5. When a player fails to knock a marble out of the ring or if his taw goes out of the ring, or if he touches a marble that is in the ring, his turn is over and the next person gets a turn. 

6. The person with the most marbles at the end of the game wins the game.

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WHO’S GOT THE THIMBLE?

     We played this game at parties and at school when I was a child.

Materials:  A sewing thimble or button or small object.

 

1. One person is chosen to be IT and he places the thimble in his hand.

2. The other players sit in a circle with their hands positioned as if in prayer.

3. The person with the thimble slides his hands between each player’s hands as he travels around the circle.

4. The person with the thimble drops the thimble into one player’s hand but continues on and doesn’t “let on” that he has let go of the thimble.

5. When the person with the thimble has finished going around the circle, the group says, “Thimble, thimble, who’s got the thimble?”

6. The group takes turns guessing who has the thimble.  When the person who has the thimble is guessed, he gets to be IT.

7. The game begins again.

 

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JUMP ROPE

One person can jump solo, two people can jump by tying one end of the rope to a tree and one person turning the rope, and three people can jump with two people turning the rope.

 

1. Rhyme 1

Cinderella dressed in red

Went upstairs to comb her head.

How many strokes did she give it?

One, two, three, four…

(Continue until you miss.)

 

Cinderella dressed in lace

Went upstairs to powder her face.

How many boxes did she use?

One, two, three… etc.

 

Cinderella dressed in yellow

Went upstairs to see her fellow.

How many kisses did she give him?

One, two, three…etc.

 

1. Rhyme 2

Mama, Mama, I’m so sick.

Send for the doctor

Quick, quick, quick.

Doctor, doctor, will I die?

Yes, my lad, but do not cry.

How many days have I got?

One, two, three… etc.

 

1. Rhyme 3

Mother, Mother, I am ill.

Call for the doctor over the hill.

First came the doctor.

Then came the nurse.

Then came the lady with the alligator purse.

Out went the doctor,

Out went the lady with the alligator purse.

Sunday-Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday-Friday-Saturday…

(Continue until you miss.)

 

1. Rhyme 4

I asked my mother for fifteen cents

To watch he elephant jump the fence.

He jumped so high he reached the sky

And he never got back till the fourth of July.

January-February-March-April-May…

(Continue until you miss.)

 

1. Rhyme 5

I’m a little Dutch girl

Dressed in blue.

Here are some things

That I can do.

(The children call out things for the one jumping to do.)

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BUM, BUM, BUM

This game is similar to charades.  No time limits or keeping score.

 

1. Divide players into two equal teams: A & B

2. The team chosen to go first chooses some action (like charades) to silently act out.

3. Everyone on the team does the acting at the same time.

4. When Team A is ready, the two teams chant the following:

A:  Bum, Bum, Bum,

         Here we come,

         All the way from

         Washington!

B:      Where are you from?

A:      Pretty Girl Station.

B:      What’s your occupation?

 

1. Team A acts out whatever they decided to act out and Team B tries to guess.  If Team B guesses correctly, they get a turn to act out an action.  If Team B doesn’t guess correctly, then Team A gets to act out an action again.

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DROP CLOTHESPINS IN A JAR

     We played this game at birthday parties when I was a child.

Materials:  Glass quart bottle and three clothespins

 

1. Place a glass quart bottle on the floor

2. Player stands above the bottle’s opening.

3. Player takes three clothespins and attempts to drop them one-at-a-time from his nose into the opening of the jar.

4. The winner is the player getting the most clothespins in the jar.

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OLD GRANNY WIGGINS IS DEAD

As many people may play this game as would like.

1. The lead person says, “Old Granny Wiggins Is Dead.”

2. The next person says, “How’d she die?”

3. The lead person say, “She died this way.”  And the lead person does an action with his body such as wave his hand up and down.

4. This is repeated until everyone is doing the same action.

5. This process is repeated with the lead person adding a second action to the first action.  It continues all around the circle.

6. The game continues with the lead person adding actions until players are acting out 4 or five actions at the same time: (patting their heads, hopping on one foot, bobbing their heads, flapping their wings, etc.)

7. When the leader gives a signal, everyone falls over dead on top of each other.

8. Game ends.

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PLEASED AND DISPLEASED

As many people may play this game as would like. 

1. A group of players sit in a circle and a questioner takes turns asking each player, “Are you pleased or displeased?

2. If a player answers that she is pleased, then the questioner goes to the next player.

3. If the player is displeased, then the questioner asks, “What would it would take to please you?”  The player can then give something humorous for another player to do such as turn cartwheels all around the house or jump up and down while singing a particular song.  Whatever it takes to make the player pleased.

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