id="pgepubid00013">Blind Man's Wand

Here the blind man has a stick, one end of which is grasped by the other players in turn. The blind man puts three questions to each player, and his aim is to recognize by the voice who it is that replies. The aim of the players, therefore, is to disguise their voices as much as possible. Sometimes, instead of merely asking questions, the blind man instructs the holder of the wand to imitate some animal—a cock or a donkey, for example.

Steps

The player who is blindfolded is first placed in the middle. The others walk from him to various positions all around, carefully measuring the number of steps (long or short) which take them there. The blind man is then told how many steps will bring him to a certain player, and he has to guess the direction toward him, and the length of step. This player, if found, becomes blind man.

Still Pond! No More Moving

The player who is blindfolded is placed in the middle and all the other players touch him. He counts out loud as rapidly as possible up to ten, during which time the players rush as far away from him as possible. Directly he reaches ten he cries out "Still Pond! No more moving!" and the players must stand perfectly still. He then says "you may have three steps," or any number beyond three which he wishes to give. The players save these steps until he comes dangerously near them and then try and use them to the best possible advantage, to escape. It is not a step if one foot remains in the same place. After a player is caught and identified by the one who is "it" he in turn is blindfolded.

Shadow Buff

A sheet is stretched across the room. One player stands on one side, and the rest, who remain on the other, pass one by one between the sheet and the candle which throws their shadows upon it. The aim of the single player is to put right names to the shadows on the sheet, and the aim of the others is, by performing antics, to keep him from recognizing them. If it is not convenient to use both sides of a sheet, the single player may sit on a hassock close to it with his back to the others, while they pass between his hassock and the candle.

The Donkey's Tail

A good-sized donkey without a tail is cut out of brown paper and fixed on a screen or on a sheet hung across the room. The tail is cut out separately and a hat-pin is put through that end of it which comes nearest the body. Each player in turn then holds the tail by the pin, shuts his eyes honestly, and, advancing to the donkey, pins the tail in what he believes to be the right place. The fun lies in his mistake.

The Blind Feeding the Blind

This is boisterous and rather messy, but it has many supporters. Two players are blindfolded and seated on the floor opposite one another. They are each given a dessert-spoonful of sugar or flour and are told to feed each other. It is well to put a sheet on the floor and to tie a towel or apron round the necks of the players. The fun belongs chiefly to the spectators.

Deer Stalking

This is a game in which only two players take part, but it is exciting to watch. Both "Deer" and "Stalker" are blindfolded. They are then placed at opposite ends of a large table, and at a given moment begin to move round it. The stalker's business is, of course, to catch the deer, and the deer's to avoid it; but neither must run out into the room. Absolute silence should be kept both by the audience and players, and if felt slippers can be worn by the deer and its stalker, so much the better.

Blowing Out the Candle

A very funny blind game. A candle is lighted and placed in position about the height of a person's head. A player is then placed a few feet from it, facing it, and, after being blindfolded and turned round three times, is told to take so many paces (however many it may be) and blow the candle out.

Apple-Snapping

Another amusing blind game to watch is apple-snapping. An apple is hung from a string in the middle of the room about the height of the blind man's head. The blind man's hands are then tied, or he holds them strictly behind him, and he has to bite the apple.

The same game can be played without blindfolding, but in that case it requires two players with their hands fixed behind them, each trying to bite the apple.

Bag and Stick

A good blind game for a Christmas party is "Bag and Stick." A fair-sized paper bag is filled with candy and hung from a string in the middle of the room. A player is then blindfolded, turned round three times, given a stick, and told he may have one, two, or three shots at the bag, whichever it may be. If he misses it, another one tries, and so on; but if he hits it the bag breaks, the candy covers the floor, and the party scramble for it.

Puss in the Corner

Each player save one takes a corner. The other, who is the puss, stands in the middle. The game begins by one corner player beckoning to another to change places. Their object is to get safely into each other's corner before the cat can. Puss's aim is to find a corner unprotected. If she does so, the player who has just left it, or the player who was hoping to be in it, becomes puss, according to whether or not they have crossed on their journey.

Hunt the Slipper

The players sit in a circle on the floor, with their knees a little gathered up. One stands in the middle with a slipper, and the game is begun by this one handing the slipper to a player in the circle, with the remark—

and then retiring from the circle for a few moments. The player to whom it was handed at once passes it on, so that when the owner of the slipper returns and demands her property again it cannot be found. With the hunt that then sets in the fun begins; the object of every player in the circle being to keep the player in the middle from seeing the slipper, from getting hold of it, or from knowing where it is, as it rapidly travels under the knees of the players here and there in the circle. Now and then, if the seeker is badly mystified, the slipper may be tossed across the circle. The player in whose possession it is when at last secured changes place with the one in the middle. Other handy things will do quite as well as a slipper, but something fairly large should be chosen, or discovery may take too long; and it ought to be soft in texture, or there may be bruises.

The Whistle

This is partly a trick. A player who does not know the game is put in the middle of the ring, round which a whistle is moving in the way that the slipper moves in "Hunt the Slipper." The object of the player in the middle is to discover the person who blew the whistle last. Meanwhile some one skilfully fixes another whistle on a string to the player's back, and that is the whistle which is really blown. As it must always be behind him when it is blown, nothing but the twitching of the string is likely to help him to discover the blower (and the trick); and in a small circle where every one is moving and laughing it takes some time to notice the twitching at all.

He Can Do Little Who Can't Do This

This is partly a trick. The leader takes a cane in his left hand, thumps on the floor several times, and passes it to a player saying, "He can do little who can't do this." The player tries to imitate him exactly, but if he takes the cane in his right hand he is wrong, the