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Foreign Indoor Games for Children

In the days prior to the advent of video consoles, children inside the home would have to keep themselves occupied with board games or physical activity games that normally require interaction with at least one other person. These more social types of games come in many forms. There are all sorts of indoor games played around the world that may be unfamiliar to American children.

What's the Time, Mr Wolf?
- This is a game commonly played in Australia. It demands a large, obstacle-free area. One player is designated the wolf, and he stands with his back to the rest of the group, which must be a minimum of two, at the other end of the room. The group yells the game's title, and the wolf turns round and gives them a time, e.g. 5 o'clock. The group members take the corresponding number of steps forward, so in this case five. It carries on, with the group getting closer to the wolf, until he eventually answers "dinner time" and chases the group back to the start line until he catches one, who then becomes the wolf.
Throwing The Square
- This is a traditional Chinese game played by two people or two teams. A rectangle of about 24 by 12 inches is cut out of paper and then divided in two so there are two squares side by side. Then a marker is established a reasonable throwing distance from the squares for the ages of the participating children. Each player has a throwing object, such as a bean bag or a cardboard disc. They take it in turn to throw their object into the same square their opponent has placed their object. A player is awarded two points for doing so or one point for throwing into the empty square, and the winner is the first to 10.
Blind Man's Wand
- This is a very old British game. A group of at least three people join hands in a circle and dance to musical accompaniment around an individual who is blindfolded and holding a cane. When the music stops, they stop moving and loose hands. The blind man points his cane at one of them, who advances and holds the other end and has to repeat a noise the blind man makes. The blind man then touches the individual with his cane to try to discern his height, while the latter crouches or stands on tip-toe to try to fool him. If the blind man guesses the right person, that person becomes the blind man, otherwise the music restarts and the game continues.
Four Corners (Las Cuatro Esquinas)
- This is a Spanish game ideally involving five players and a large, empty room. Four of the players stand in the corners of the room, while "IT" stands in the middle. As "IT" claps his hands, the four must run to switch positions with each other and "IT" tries to get to one of the vacant corners. Whoever is left without a corner then becomes "IT."

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