Old Time Games

Popular Farm Games

Pom Pom Pull Away

Children line up as in Red Rover. One child stays in the center and says, “Pom Pom Pull Away”. With this the children run to the other side. If a child is tagged, he/she must stay in the middle to help tag others. The first child tagged is ‘it’ for the next game.

Ring-Taw

A circle of about a foot wide is drawn on a piece of smooth ground, where one or two marbles from each player is placed in the circle. Outside and around this, about six feet away, another circle is drawn. The first player kneels, with his hand against this outer line, and shoots his/her playing marble, or “taw,” at the group placed in the central ring.

To shoot the marble, pinch the taw between the knuckle of the bent thumb and the curve of the forefinger and suddenly straighten the thumb. If the player knocks any of the marbles out of the circle they are his, and he/she may aim again from the spot at which his taw stopped. If, however, the player misses, and the taw remains within either of the rings, the player must leave it there, in case the next player wishes to shoot at it. If hit, the owner of the taw must hand over one marble, but no taw can be taken, and the taw may be aimed at only once. The game continues in this way until all marbles are knocked out of the ring.

Nine Holes

Though this game is called Nine Holes, the number varies with the number of players. The holes are made in the ground side by side, and are numbered onwards from 1, with one hole belonging to each player. Every hole has three or more small stones, called eggs, placed in it.

A mark is made ten or twelve feet away, and one of the players rolls the ball from this mark towards the holes beside which the rest are standing. The ball drops into a hole and everyone except the owner of the hole scatters as fast as they can. The player who rolled the ball snatches out the ball and throws it at one of the running playmates. The person who is hit loses one of the eggs from his/her hole, and in turn throws the ball at another player.

Everyone who is hit loses an egg, and so does the thrower, if he/she misses. The player who is last to lose all his/her eggs is the winner.

Auntie I Over

This game involves two teams on opposite sides of a building. On the 1917 Farm we use the granary. One team begins by throwing a ball over the roof. Before the ball is thrown the team throwing the ball yells “Auntie I Over!” If the ball does not make it over the roof, the throwing team yells “Oh, Auntie Came Back.” If it does make it over the roof and someone on the other side catches it, she/he runs around the building and tries to tag one of the members of the opposite team by hitting them with the ball. All of the teammates can run around with the person who caught the ball to try and bluff the other team into thinking someone else has the ball. If someone on the opposite team is hit, that player joins the team that tagged him/her. This is a fun game to play for children who are old enough to throw the ball over a building.

Kick the Can

Kick the Can is similar to hide and seek where one person counts while the others hide. The counter goes to look for the other players while the players try to run back and kick the can before they are tagged. The first one tagged is it.

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