I Spy

 

 

 

Search  Inquiry Net

Back ] Home ] Up ] Next ]

Costume Race
Duck on a Rock
Hopscotch
Hunkety
I Spy
Jack Candles
Jack Stones
Jack's Alive!
Kick the Wicket
Leap-Frog Race
Mumbly Peg
Renegade
Simon Kenton
Skittles
Spirit Tortoise
Tip-Cat
The Wheelbarrow Race
Woodsmen's Tests

Scout Books

Site Contents

By Dan Beard

ohb262.gif (10215 bytes)
Fig. 262.
Long Island Hunkety.

When the world was young the little folks played I Spy, and the game is still popular, and will be, I venture to say, as long as there are young people to play it, even though the world becomes old and gray in the meantime.

And, if there are no children left, the young beasts of the forest will play it as they do now. A pair of young foxes once owned by the writer never seemed to tire of playing I Spy. First one would hid, and then the other, and great would be the race when the hider was discovered. The race generally ended in a rough-and-tumble fight and then the game was started afresh. The had no rules determining which should be "It " that I could discover, nor did "It" count a hundred with his eyes shut to give the other a chance to hide as a boy does. Nor was the young fox intelligent enough to use the unfair methods of counting sometimes employed by boys. For instance, when "It" agrees to count one hundred, and the other boys are seeking a hiding-place, they are sometimes caught unaware when "It" shouts "Ten, ten, double ten, forty-five, and fifteen!" opens his eyes and goes in search of his half- hidden playmates. Any hider gaining home before "It" can do so is in free, and generally announces the fact by shouting as he runs, " In free! In free!" But if "It" spies a boy, calls his name, and reaches home first, the boy is caught. The same goes on until all are in free or caught. If "It" fails to catch one, then "It" must be "It" for the next game, but if he catches one or more buys, the first one caught is "It " for the next game.

As Played in the Evening

As this game is played in the evening, or after dark, it is frequently difficult for "It " to distinguish one boy from another. This difficulty is often increased by those hiding turning their caps and coats inside out or exchanging caps and hats, and purposely allowing the disguised head to appear from behind a tree or the front steps of a house. When the boy who is "It" sees the head and recognizes the covering, in nine times out of ten he will be deceived, and cry out, "I spy Tom Jones!" when it is really Billy Smith with Tom Jones's hat or cap on. In this case both Jones and Smith are free. Usually, while this affair is going on, several others, slip in crying, "In free!" and "It " learns by experience to be more cautious the next time.

The exchanging of hats and coats or the turning of them inside out adds greatly to the difficulty of detection and to the interest of the game.

Freeings

if the last hider to come in succeeds in reaching home without being caught and cries " Freeings! " then all go out and hide again, and "It " is "It " for another game.

OHB

 

 

   

 

 


Additional Information:

Peer- Level Topic Links:
Costume Race ] Duck on a Rock ] Hopscotch ] Hunkety ] [ I Spy ] Jack Candles ] Jack Stones ] Jack's Alive! ] Kick the Wicket ] Leap-Frog Race ] Mumbly Peg ] Renegade ] Simon Kenton ] Skittles ] Spirit Tortoise ] Tip-Cat ] The Wheelbarrow Race ] Woodsmen's Tests ]

Parent- Level Topic Links:
Baden-Powell's  Games ] B-P's Adult Military Games ] Dan Beard's Games ] A. Mackenzie's Games ] G. S. Ripley's Games ] Ernest Seton's Games ] J. Thurman's Games ] Smith's Advancement Games ] Wide Games ] Relay Games ] Special Needs Boys' Games ] Politically Incorrect Scout Games ] Game Leadership ] Compass Training Games ] Highland Games ]

The Inquiry Net Main Topic Links:
 [Outdoor Skills]  [Patrol Method [Old-School]  [Adults [Advancement]  [Ideals]  [Leadership]  [Uniforms]

Search This Site:

Search Amazon.Com:

When you place an order with Amazon.Com using the search box below, a small referral fee is returned to The Inquiry Net to help defer the expense of keeping us online.  Thank you for your consideration!

Search:

Keywords:

Amazon Logo

 

 

Scout Books Trading Post

Dead Bugs, Blow Guns, Sharp Knives, & Snakes:
What More Could A Boy Want?

Old School Scouting:
What to Do, and How to Do It!

To Email me, replace "(at)" below with "@"
Rick(at)Kudu.Net

If you have questions about one of my 2,000 pages here, you must send me the "URL" of the page!
This "URL" is sometimes called the "Address" and it is usually found in a little box near the top of your screen.  Most URLs start with the letters "http://"

The Kudu Net is a backup "mirror" of The Inquiry Net.  

©2003, 2011 The Inquiry Net, http://inquiry.net  In addition to any Copyright still held by the original authors, the Scans, Optical Character Recognition, extensive Editing,  and HTML Coding on this Website are the property of the Webmaster.   My work may be used by individuals for non-commercial, non-web-based activities, such as Scouting, research, teaching, and personal use so long as this copyright statement and a URL to my material is included in the text
The purpose of this Website is to provide access  to hard to find, out-of-print documents.  Much of the content has been edited to be of practical use in today's world and is not intended as historical preservation.   I will be happy to provide scans of specific short passages in the original documents for people involved in academic research.  

 

Last modified: October 15, 2016.