The players should all be seated, an even number in each row of seats. At a signal, the last player in each line runs forward and tags the front wall. As soon as this player is out of the aisle, the others all move backward one seat. This leaves the front seat vacant, and the runner having touched the wall returns immediately and takes this vacant front seat. As the player sits he raises his hand, which is a signal for the player who is now the last one in the line to run forward, the line moving backward one place as soon as he is out of the aisle. He, in turn, having touched the wall, takes the vacant front seat. The play is continued in this way until every one in the row has run.
The line wins whose player, sitting at the start in the front seat, first returns to his seat.
As in all schoolroom games where there is running, the seated players should be very careful to keep their feet under the desks, so there will be nothing in the aisles over which the runners may trip.
This is one of the best class room games and is very popular.
TEN STEPS
10 to 30 or more players.
Playground; indoors.
This is a game of hide and seek and like all such games is best played where there is plenty of space and many hiding places. The distinctive feature of this game is the peculiar limitation put on the opportunity to hide, which may even free the blinder from his task. The one who is It, or hunter, blinds his eyes and counts ten while the other players run for hiding places. As soon as the one who is blinding says "Ten!" the players must all stand motionless whereever they happen to be, while he turns at once to look for them. Any player whom he sees moving must come back to the goal and start over again. The hunter repeats this five times, and any player not entirely out of sight the fifth time the hunter turns must change places with him, the original hunter becoming a spectator of the game. Having called "Ten!" and turned to look for moving players five times, the hunter (or the one taking his place, as explained above) counts one hundred, to give the players time to reach final hiding places, and the game proceeds as in regular I Spy.
THIMBLE RING
10 to 30 or more players.