Indoor Games for Kids

This old-fashioned pastime is so generally known that it is scarcely necessary to describe it;

A boy who has never seen the game played is elected hunter; the others seat themselves on the ground, as in Hunt the Slipper.

This is a very similar game to Hot Boiled Beans. One player having been sent out of the room, the others arrange some simple task for him to perform on his return.

This exciting game may be played by an unlimited number, and is particularly adapted for a large party.

Consists in one person having a handkerchief bound over his eyes, so as to completely blind him, and thus blindfolded trying to chase the other players, either by the sound of their footsteps,

One player leaves the room, and while he is absent the rest fix upon some proverb. The words are then distributed among them, and each player, in reply to a question asked by the guesser, has to introduce his particular word.

In this game one of the players enters the room, armed with a poker, with which he taps on the floor.

The players sit round in a circle, each taking a colour. Thus one is red-cap, another black-cap, and so on. One of them, who takes the place of master, and has no colour, taking up a cap says:

A noisier game than this could scarcely be desired by the most boisterous of our young friends.

Shadow Buff differs very materially from Blind Man’s Buff, but it is equally amusing. A large piece of white linen should be fastened neatly up at one end of room, so that it hangs quite smooth;

Birds, Beasts, and Fishes.—“Now, Tom,” said Harry, “get your slate and pencil, and I’ll show you such a jolly game.

This game will be best described by a short dialogue.
Harry.—I am going to put a question in a whisper to Tom, who is seated on my right hand, to which he will reply in the same tone.

Every player, except one who holds the office of reader, selects a trade or profession, which he must retain throughout the game.

The players form sides, and decide who shall be masters and who men. The principal aim of the men is to keep working as long as possible, and to prevent the masters taking their places.

Two boys having seated themselves on the floor, are trussed by their playmates; that is to say, each boy has his wrists tied together with a handkerchief, and his legs secured just above the ancles with another;

This game, although only two persons are engaged in it at a time, furnishes much amusement, from the contradictory nature of its words and actions.

The party being seated in a circle, the player who has been chosen to commence the game takes a knotted handkerchief, and throws it suddenly into another’s lap, calling out at the same time either “Earth!” “Water!” “Air!” or “Fire!”

The leader of the game commences it by asking each of his companions in turn, “What is my thought like?”