Hobbies And Interests
Penny Relay
In this relay race, teams stand at one end of the playing area and one bucket for each team waits at the other. One player from each team races to the bucket while balancing a penny on one shoe. The player places the penny in the bucket, without using hands, and races back to the team to tag the next player. This is a timed relay race, so the team with the most pennies in the bucket wins.
Shove 'Ha Penny
This game hails back to early America. One version is played on a table. Players put their penny on one end of the table and give it a shove using the palm of their hands. The player who can get his penny closest to the opposite edge of the table, without going over, wins. The other version uses a curb or wall as the target. Players stand the same distance away from the target and toss their pennies toward it. The one who can get closest to the target, without touching it, wins.
Block Dominoes
This is the simplest dominoes game and the basis for several more complex domino games. Players each draw a hand of dominoes. Play begins with the player who has the highest double. Play continues clockwise with each player adding a domino to either open end of the "train," or line of dominoes. Traditionally, if players cannot add to the train, they pass their turn and do not draw from the "bone yard," or the face-down pile of dominoes left after the initial deal. However, house rules commonly involve a draw from the bone yard when no play can be made. The game ends when a player "dominoes" or uses the last domino in his hand. That player gets the points (or dots) in the other players' hands. If the game becomes blocked (no more plays can be made) and ends before someone dominoes, the person with the lowest points wins. Her score would be the other players' points minus the points in her hand.
Muggins
A popular dominoes game involves making the points on all open ends of the domino train equal five or a multiple of five. When a player lays down a domino that accomplishes this goal, she earns the "muggins points." Game play continues clockwise. If a player lays down a domino that earns muggins points but fails to notice it, an opposing player may call "muggins!" and steal the points. If a player cannot make a play, she draws from the bone yard until she can play or no dominoes remain. The player who dominoes (or who has the lowest hand if the game is blocked) gets the points in other players' hands, minus his own points, rounded to the nearest multiple of five and divided by five.