Hobbies And Interests
Allicomgreenzie
Allicomgreenzie is a variant on Drop Handkerchief that was played by young girls at country schools in Britain. Drop Handkerchief is played by appointing one girl to be "It." The other girls make a circle and stand facing the inside of the circle. The girl who is "It" is given a handkerchief. She walks around the circle until she drops the handkerchief behind one of the girls. The "It" starts to run and the chosen girl chases after her. If the "It" reaches the empty spot first, the other girl is now "It." In the variation of Allicomgreenzie, the tardy one is out.
Hold Fast And Let Go!
Choose one girl to be the leader and divide the other girls into groups of four. The four girls hold the corners of a handkerchief. The girl chosen to be the leader stands in front of the other girls and shouts either, "Hold fast!" or "Let go!". The girls that have the handkerchiefs must drop the cloths if they hear "Hold fast!" and hang onto the cloths if they hear "Let go!" They pick up the handkerchiefs and start again. The players who mix these requests up and do as told after hearing the commands are out.
Hopscotch
Hopscotch takes a bit of preparation with creating the hopscotch board in chalk. The diagrams may vary in shape but usually include spaces numbered 1 to 10. However, this traditional game that dates back to the Roman occupation of Britain is worth the effort. The play starts with the "pink"---casting a stone up to the 10. The first girl to "pink" is the first player to take a turn. She retrieves her stone and casts it as far along the diagram as she can pitch. She hops on one leg on the single spots in the diagram and touches one foot on each space for coupled spaces (2 and 3, for example) to the 10 space and is able to rest briefly, if this is a beginner's game, on both legs before repeating the hopping process on the journey back, The girl, during the return, must retrieve the stone she pitched.
Jump Rope
Jump Rope is an activity that can be accompanied by many rhymes and variations in rules. The basic premise is to continuing jumping while repeating rhymes like this, "Apples, peaches, pears, and plums, tell me when your birthday comes." The girl jumping would reply with her birthday date.
Rose Guess
This is a summer game when flowers are in bloom. Take a fully grown rose or other flower with many petals and hold it up where the girls can see it. Ask them to guess how many petals there are and write down the number. This teaches basic estimation. The girls can then count the petals by plucking them. The girl with the closest estimate wins.
Throw The Smiles
Participants sit or stand in a circle, all with solemn faces. One player should begin to smile. She then puts her hand to her face and "takes off" her smile by ceasing to smile. The girl then "throws" the smile to another player. The girl who "catches" the smile must smile and continue the "throw." If the girls smile any other time than when they've "caught" the smile, they are out of the game.