Packing the Trunk. A game adapted from the French, that is very popular among the little people of America, is a good test for the memory.

The children must sit in a circle, and one, as leader, announces in this fashion: “I pack my trunk, and in it I put”—mentioning some articles used in traveling, as gloves, brush or cologne. The next child begins then, saying what the leader has said and adding another article, and so on around the circle, each child repeating all the articles mentioned by the previous one in their correct order, and then adding one more to the list, which after a while assumes lengthy proportions. If one boy or girl forgets one article or puts it in the wrong order, he or she must drop out of the game, and so on until only one child remains.

Blowing Ping-pong Balls. Arrange the players with their hands behind them along the sides of a long extension table, down the centre of which a row of ping-pong balls are placed at intervals of about two feet. Appoint two judges and place them at the ends of the table. At a given word, the players on both sides begin to blow the balls, endeavoring to blow them off their opponents’ side of the table and to prevent any balls from being blown off of their own side. Each ball blown off counts five points. The game is 100 points.

Doing the Impossible. A sure way to raise a laugh among a party of friends, is to claim that you can do an apparently impossible thing, and then get your friends to try it; then, when they have tried and failed, do the very thing they failed on, in a simple way which has never occurred to them. Here is a deception which seldom fails to work and which always provides a lot of fun, even to those who are fooled by it.

Begin by saying something about ant-eaters, which have such long tongues that they can touch the ground with them without lowering their heads, and then ask one of your friends if he can put out his tongue and touch his ear. He will try, gently at first, then harder, and at length make the funniest faces by trying to do that, which is of course, impossible. Then others will try poking their tongues out of the corners of their mouths, and trying to curl them around their cheeks until their ears are reached.

When they have finished, you put out your tongue, and touch your ear with your finger.

The Game of “It.” Here is a game that will amuse any party, but you must first find out adroitly that there is at least one person in the company who has never been initiated into the mysteries. This one is chosen to leave the room, but before he goes he must be told that those in the room will select an object which he is to guess on his return. He may ask as many questions as he wishes when the time comes, one question at a time of each person consecutively, but his questions must be so worded that they may be answered by “Yes,” “No,” or “I do not know.”

When all this has been explained, the guesser leaves the room. The leader then arranges the party in a circle, seating alternately a boy with a girl, if possible, and explaining that each person must think of the one sitting on his or her left, as the object chosen, and answer all questions as if they applied to that person. You may imagine that the conflicting answers arising from such an arrangement will confuse the questioner, and much fun will be derived by those in the secret.

For instance the questioner may ask of No. 1, who is a girl, “Has it life?” No 1 answers “Yes.” He then asks No. 2, who is a boy, “Is it pretty?” and No. 2 very naturally answers “Yes,” for he is speaking of the girl at his left. Then of No. 3, who is a girl, “Is it a girl?” and No. 3, thinking of the boy on her left, answers “No.”

All this throws the questioner off the track—it has life, it is pretty, but it is not a girl. So he naturally asks No. 4, who is a boy, “Is it a boy?” and No. 4 answers “No.”

The questions will now be varied, to find something with life that is pretty, and is neither a girl nor a boy, and the result will be very amusing.

Or the questioner may ask such questions as “Is its hair long?” “Does it wear short sleeves?” and so on, and all the conflicting answers will tend to prolong the game to any desired extent.

The Game of “Turtle.” Here is a game for boys who have good, strong muscles. It is called “turtle.” Any number may play, and the game commences by all sitting in a row resting their chins on their knees, and each holding his left ankle with his right hand, and his right ankle with his left hand. This is a very difficult position to keep. At a given signal, the turtles start for a goal a short distance away. It is the object of the game for the turtles to waddle to the goal and back to the starting point without removing their hands from their feet. The winner is, of course, the one who returns to the starting point first.

The Game of “Empty Hands.” Some member of the household produces a quantity of small cards. The number is not quite sufficient to “go round” the company, an intentional feature of the game. Four persons find themselves empty-handed when the bell rings. This bell is a signal for the passing, the object being to find some one without a card and rid one’s self of the one in hand by passing it on. No one to whom a card is offered is allowed to refuse it, unless, of course, he already holds one. If empty-handed he is obliged to receive the unwelcome gift and try to get rid of it as quickly as possible.

Each time the bell rings which occurs at irregular intervals, making it impossible to calculate, the passing ceases, and all having empty hands win a point to count towards the final prize. The boy or girl having most points when the passing is over, receives a prize.

Simon Says. The players are arranged in a line, the player who enacts Simon standing in front. He and all the others clench their fists, keeping the thumb pointed upwards. No player is to obey his commands unless prefaced with the words, “Simon says.” Simon is himself subjected to the same rules. The game commences by Simon commanding, “Simon says, ‘Turn up,’” on which he turns his thumb upwards, followed by the other players. He then says “Simon says, ‘Turn down,’” and brings his hands back again. When he has done so several times, and thinks that the players are off their guard, he merely gives the word, “Turn up,” or “Turn down,” without moving his hands. Some one, if not all, is sure to obey the command, and is subject to a forfeit. Simon is also subject to a forfeit, if he tells his companions to turn down, if the thumbs are already down, or vice versa. With a sharp player enacting Simon, the game is very spirited.

The simplicity of this game constitutes its chief charm, as the very fact of its being so simple, sometimes leads to inattention on the part of some of the players, which is sure to result in their being caught.

Passing Bean-bags. Make twelve or fifteen bags, six inches square, of bed-ticking, and loosely fill them with beans which have been washed and dried to remove the dust.

Appoint two leaders, who choose sides, arranging the sides in lines facing each other, with a small table at each end of each line.

The bean-bags being equally divided, each leader deposits his share upon the table nearest him. Then, at a given signal, seizing one bag at a time with one hand, with the other he starts it down the line, each player passing it to the next, until all the bags reach the last, who drops them upon the table at his end of the line. When all the bags have reached this table, the last player, seizing each in turn, sends them back up the line to the leader, who drops them upon his table. Whichever side first succeeds in passing all the bags down the line and back, wins the round. It takes five rounds to make a game, so that three out of five must be successful for the winning side.

Buzz. This is a simple little game that needs no preparation, but can be started in a moment when there is danger of dullness. A large company can play equally as well as a small. The leader instructs the company that they will now proceed to count in regular order until they come to seven, any multiple of seven, or any number having seven in it, when they will substitute the word “buzz” for that number. Should they fail to do this they will be dropped from the circle. This will continue until every one has blundered. When the higher numbers are reached it takes one quick in quantities to follow it. Given properly it goes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, buzz, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, buzz, 15, 16, buzz, 18, 19, 20, buzz, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, buzz, buzz, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, buzz, etc.

Can You Laugh? This is a little entertainment that will fill in some vacant spot in an evening, or will serve as an impromptu. It can be tried either by the ladies or gentlemen. If the ladies try it (and this is likely to be more successful, as they laugh easier than men), let them stand in a row. The gentlemen are then to endeavor to make them laugh by every means possible, except to touch or threaten to touch. The least departure from perfect soberness is called a laugh, and the lady is to step out of the line and join the gentlemen in her endeavor to make the ladies laugh. If it is desired that a prize be given, it may be given to the lady who keeps from laughing longest.

An Optical Game. Present a ring to a person, or place it at some distance and in such a manner that the plane of it shall be turned towards a person’s face; and then bid him shut one of his eyes, and try to push through it a crooked stick of sufficient length to reach it; he will very rarely succeed.

Blowing the Feather. A simple and successful game is this old-fashioned one. Having provided a sheet or tablecloth and a small feather such as sofa pillows are stuffed with, ask your guests (all but one) to be seated on the floor in a hollow square. The tablecloth or sheet is then spread so that the players can hold the edges of the sides and ends up, just under their chins, thus stretching the cloth taut about a foot and a half above the floor. Upon the cloth the small feather is placed, and the player who is left out of the square is then told that he must do his best to catch it either in front of or upon some one of the seated players, who will then be obliged to take his place. At a signal, the players on the floor begin to blow, and the feather flies hither and thither, never resting, while amid much laughter the player who is out flies hither and thither, too, until he catches it at last on some unwary individual or some one too weak from laughing to blow quickly and effectively.

Throwing the Handkerchief. Two sides being seated in two rows facing each other, a knotted handkerchief is thrown suddenly at one of the players opposite, calling out at the same time, either “Earth!” “Water!” “Air!” or “Fire!” If “Earth” is called, the player into whose lap the handkerchief falls must name some quadruped before the other can count ten; if “Air,” a bird; if “Water,” a fish; and if “Fire,” he must remain perfectly still. Should the player fail to name an animal, or name the wrong one, or speak when he ought to be silent, he must drop out of the game, and the player who threw the handkerchief at him, may take and throw it at some one else. But should he answer properly, he must throw the handkerchief at a player on the opposite side, call an element and count ten. In this way the game goes on until all but one have dropped out, the remaining one being the winner.

Going to Jerusalem. Get a line of chairs, every other one facing an opposite direction, one less chair than the number of people. As the piano is played, they march around the line of chairs, and as the music suddenly stops, each one tries to sit on the nearest chair, and of course some one is left standing and is out of the game. The music starts again, and one chair is taken out. The same thing is repeated until there are two people left to one chair. It is very amusing to watch these two cautiously moving about this chair, ready to seize it the instant the music stops.

Find the Whistle. All the children but one sit down in a circle. The one that is left standing, must be the one who does not know the game. Some one takes a string, fastens a whistle to one end of it, and a bent pin to the other, then quietly and secretly attaches the string by the hook to the person’s back. Every time he turns his back toward any one, the whistle is taken and blown. So it goes until the whistle is discovered.

The All-around Story Game. One person in the room begins to relate a story, and after telling enough to interest the hearers and arouse their curiosity, suddenly breaking off, throws a knotted handkerchief at some member of the party, calling upon him to continue the story. This is kept up as long as possible. The more absurd and improbable the better. If any one fails to respond upon receiving the handkerchief, he or she must drop out. The one remaining last wins.

An Obstacle Game. Set stools, chairs, tables, or anything that is an obstacle in the most convenient place in the room; let those who are to take part in the game have two minutes to get their bearings. Then they leave the room and come back blindfolded. In the meantime, all the obstacles have been removed, but the warning cries of “Look out!” and the absurd attempts of the players to remember where the obstacles were, make much fun.

Impudence. This is played with two packs of cards. Seat the players around the table and deal to them, one at a time all around, a whole pack of cards; placing the other pack, face downward, in the centre of the table.

The first player begins by turning up a card from the pack on the table, at the same time asking some uncomplimentary question, which is supposed to apply to the person holding the corresponding card. This unfortunate player has a speedy revenge, however, as it is his privilege to turn the next card and ask the next question.

Example: A [turning up card]—“Who is the most selfish person in this room?”

B [who holds the duplicate]—“Evidently I am, but [turning another card] who is the most conceited?”

C—“That must be I. Now [turning card], let us see who is the stingiest.” And so on till the pack is exhausted.

Rolling Chase-ball. Two teams may play this game, and two big balls or footballs are used. The teams line up in parallel rows, the players not facing each other, but behind one another all facing the same way. The leader of each team holds a ball in both hands.

At the appointed signal, the leader, without bending his body or turning his head, tosses the ball backward to the player behind him. The ball is tossed backward again, and so passes along the line. The end player then runs to the head of the line, and the whole process is repeated over again. The end player again goes to the front, and the game is continued until the original leader of the team is again at the head of his line. The team first reaching its order of formation wins the game.

It is essential that the ball should travel swiftly. Should any player drop the ball, he must run for it and regain his place in the line before passing it on. Should a toss be so strong as to pass above the player behind, so that he fails to receive the ball, the ball must be passed back so that the missed player shall handle it.