SPRING BREAK | Old-fashioned games to play on a lazy day

By CAROL J.G. WARD | cjgward@thestate.com

Do kids still play Red Rover, Mother May I and Red Light, Green Light? My cousins, sister and I used to love playing those games on crisp spring days and sticky summer afternoons spent at my grandparents’ house. My son is too old for those games now, but I don’t recall that they were very popular among his elementary-school set just a few years ago.

As I started thinking about spring break and how parents might entertain their children during the week, my mind wandered to those days spent at Pop’s and Grandma Lily’s. There was never a shortage of ways to have fun. We played in the barn and chased dibbies. (Yes, I know the rest of the world calls baby chicks “biddies,” but my family always called them dibbies.) Pop (pictured) told us that if we could catch one, we could keep it, so away we’d go, chasing the flock of baby chicks around the dirt yard. If you’ve ever tried to catch a baby chick, you know [ . . . ]

this is a nigh on impossible task, which I’m sure is why Pop made his promise in the first place.

He also told us that if we could put salt on a bird’s tail, we could catch it, which prompted many wild romps, salt shaker in hand. Just like with the dibbies, later I realized Pop’s prank. If you can get close enough to a bird to put salt on its tail, then of course you could catch it. The real trick would be to get that close — with or without salt.

Pop also taught us how to make tiny men from the centers of maypop blooms and how to fashion makeshift toothbrushes out of sassafrass twigs — a neat trick if you’re ever stuck in the woods without dental hygiene. If we were lucky, he would carve little faces on the large acorns from the oak tree beside the house or make us hats from the leaves. These leaf hats were delicate constructions held together with broomstraw or tiny twigs.

If the weather weren’t cooperating for playing outside, we would play inside games like Bum Bum Bum and Club Fist. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve never heard of those games; hardly anyone I mention them to has. It wasn’t until I was older that I began to wonder where they came from. A little research revealed that they are traditional Appalachian games, which makes sense because my mother’s family has a mountain heritage. They are both included in “The Foxfire Book of Appalachian Toys & Games,” as are the leaf hats.

Maybe you’ll try one of these games with your children this week. Even better, share with them the ways you used to have fun when you were a child or take them to visit their grandparents and learn their favorite games.

BUM BUM BUM
This game is similar to charades, but there is no point system or time limit. To play, children divide into two teams. The team that is going first huddles and decides on something to act out, generally a vocation or occupation of some sort. The whole team participates in the acting.

When the first team is ready, they walk to the other team and begin this exchange:

Team 1: Bum, bum, bum, here we come, all the way from Washington!
Team 2: Where you from?
Team 1: Pretty Girl Station.
Team 2: What’s your occupation?
Team 1: Oh, most any ol’ thing.
Team 2: Well, get to work.

Team 1 acts out whatever they decide, and Team 2 tries to guess what it is. If they guess correctly, Team 2 gets to do the acting on the next turn. If incorrect, Team 1 gets to go again.

CLUB FIST
Our version of Club Fist differs slightly from the one in the Foxfire book.

If the game sounds violent to you, that’s how we played it back in the day, and frankly, it’s probably not as violent as dodge ball or even Red Rover. You easily can make adjustments to tone down the game.

To play, children form a stack of fists, using both hands, if possible. Any number of children can play as long as they can reach around each other to stack their fists. One of the players starts by putting his fist down first, with the thumb up, so the next play can hold on and so forth. The players take turns stacking one fist, and then in the same order, their second fist. A leader, usually the oldest player, keeps one hand free.

The leader begins the game by asking the player with the top fist: Whatcha got there? The player responds: Club fist.

The leader then asks: You want to take it off, knock it off or let the crows pick it off? The player decides whether to simply remove his fist, to let the leader knock it off or to try to hold on while the leader pinches his fist. (Why anyone would choose anything but the first option, I can’t explain, but we generally chose the latter two.)

The sequence continues until you’re left with one fist on the table. The leader and the owner of the last fist recite a nonsensical poem of sorts that goes like this:

Leader: What you got there?
Response: Bread and butter.
Leader: Where’s my share?
Response: In the cupboard.
Leader: Where’s the cupboard?
Response: In the house.
Leader: Where’s the house?
Response: In the woods.
Leader: Where’s the woods?
Response: Fire burnt ’em.
Leader: Where’s the fire?
Response: Water quenched it.
Leader: Where’s the water?
Response: The ox drunk it.
Leader: Where’s the ox?
Response: The butcher killed it.
Leader: Where’s the butcher?
Response: The rope hung ’im.
Leader: Where’s the rope?
Response: The rat gnawed it.
Leader: Where’s the rat?
Response: The cat killed it.
Leader: Where’s the cat?
Response: The hammer killed it.
Leader: Where’s the hammer?
Response: Behind grandma’s church door crackin’ hickory nuts.

Then the leader says: “The first one to grin, show their teeth or laugh gets three pinches, three pulls of hair and three punches.”

If you don’t like the physical parts of the game, you can make adjustments to the fist removal process and the consequences for “showing your teeth.” You could even have fun writing your own version of the questions and responses.

Photo | Alfred Harvey "Pop" Hullett

Comments

[Cathey Babb]

I was delighted by your memories of these games. I played all these games many times as a child in North Carolina. But what really makes me smile is the part about chasing dibbies. I always remembered calling them dibbies, but everyone around here calls them biddies. (Now I know it wasn't just me!)

[Susan Snodgrass]

Carol JG Ward is my cousin and I remember all those wonderful fun days spent with Pop. She brought back all the memories for me, chasing dibbies, acorn men and hats from leaves. Those were the good old days! THanks, Carol!

[Grace Gordon]

Carol Ward is my daughter and of course I am proud of her and thankful to be a part of this heritage where parents and grandparents spent quality time with their families. All the grandkids adored Pop and he loved and enjoyed them. I wish everyone could experience this kind of "family".

[J Gibson]

I remember all those games. I loved them as a child, and I played them with my children when they were small. I will also play them with my grandchildren when I get the chance. I especially liked making the little men out of acorns. My daughter Lily loved for me to make them for her. Sometimes she pestered me into making dozens of them and she would keep them until they schrivlled up.
I talk of things I learned from Pop often. People I work with probably get tired of hearing me talk about when I was little but I will keep on. Maybe my kids and grandkids will keep up the talk after I'm gone.