Outdoor Games and the Historian
By Historian Brewer
Here are a few games we used to play as kids that I think we should all pick up again. Both as an amusing way to be active, and also to hone those skills that help us to survive in the field...
Tag - A simple game where one person is IT and chases everybody else around trying to pass off the IT virus. Sometimes there is a "safe zone" where those running from IT may rest for a moment. This game fosters the most important skill for any Historian; "Run Away". The ability to run other people down can also be valuable, so being IT occasionally isn't so bad. Usually, there are boundaries.
Hide and Go Seek - Again the mythic IT is chosen and then counts to (usually) 100. All others go hide until they are found by IT. An excellent exercise in evasion and tracking. Again, the use of boundaries are advisable unless you've got a lot of time on your hands.
Kick the Can - Something of a cross between the previous two. IT counts and others hide. IT needs to find the other players BUT there is also an object (usually a can) that IT must guard. For if any of the hiders can sneak up and kick the can, they are safe (and those caught are freed). Not only is this an exercise in evasion, but stealth as well. IT also gets a lesson in alertness (and quick thinking under pressure in the case of a variation where IT doesn't get the hiders out by tagging them but by calling out their name and location when seen. So if Bob is running across the lawn and about to kick the can, you have to think to say something like, "Bob, on the lawn", or, "Bob, near the can.", and not, "Bob... over there!").
Dodge Ball ("Shooting Fish in a Barrel" style) - You can tell a lot about the teachers/teacher's aids at your elementary school by the variation of Dodge Ball you were taught. Mine were some seriously sadistic screwheads, let me tell you. It's best with a minimum of 16 people. Separate everybody into two equal teams- Team One forms a circle around Team Two and attempts to peg them with a red rubber playground ball. If the ball touches a member of Team two AT ALL they are out (No catching it and chucking it back... That's for WIMPS!). Sometimes, members of Team Two join Team One when they get out if you want to be really cruel about it.
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