Rules for Children's Game of Jacks

Flipping

• A player holds the jacks in cupped hands and tosses them into the air. She quickly turn both hands over (palms down) and catches as many as she can on the back of her hands. The payer then tosses the jacks once more and flips her hands over again, this time to catch as many jacks as possible in her cupped hands. Each player does this; the player who catches the most jacks goes first.

Scattering the Jacks

• The first player scatters the jacks on the playing surface and tries to keep them close enough together to be easily picked up.

Picking up the Jacks

• The game is played in rounds. Round one is called onesies and begins when the player tosses the ball into the air. The player picks up one jack and then catches the ball. The ball may bounce only once before he must catch it. The jack must be picked up by the same hand that threw the ball; in turn, the ball must be caught in that same hand. If the player drops the ball or any jacks, or if the ball bounces more than once, his turn is over and player two will proceed with these same steps. In the first round all ten jacks must be picked up one at a time. If he successfully completes round one, he then proceeds to round two, or twosies. Now all ten jacks are picked up two at a time. Upon completion of this round, threesies begins, and three jacks at a time are picked up. In round three, the player will have one jack left over and this jack will be picked up as well. This rule applies to any round with leftover jacks. The player continues to foursies, fivesies, and so on. The game usually goes from onesies to tensies, then back to onesies. The first player to complete all rounds successfully is the winner.

Other Ways a Player Might Lose a Turn

• Players must not move or touch any jacks other than the ones being picked up. Using two hands to catch the ball, allowing the ball to touch another part of your body before catching it, or failing to pick up the proper number of jacks will also result in the loss of a turn.

Fancies

• If you want to make the game of jacks a bit more challenging, you can add fancies. A fancy is limited only by your imagination and sometimes involves a combination of rhymes and hand movements. For example, you can toss the ball into the air and say "one two, buckle my shoe," touch the ground, pick up your jacks and catch the ball. Then do it again with the next line, saying "three four, open the door," touch the ground, pick up the jacks and catch the ball. You could also use only the extra hand movements without the rhyme or vice versa. Other fancies go by names such as "Pick a Cherry" and "Pigs in a Pen."