Guessing compet.i.tions, which are of American invention, can be an interesting change from ordinary games. In some the company are all asked to contribute, as in "Book Teas," where a punning symbolic t.i.tle of a book is worn by each guest, and a prize is given to the person who guesses most, and to the person whose t.i.tle is considered the best. Thus, a person wearing a card having the letter R represented _Middlemarch_, and a person with catkins in his b.u.t.tonhole, _Hazell"s Annual_. But simpler devices are just as interesting.
In other guessing compet.i.tions the preparations are the affair of the household which gives the party. It is with these that we are concerned here. Giving prizes certainly adds to the interest of them.
Guessing Quant.i.ties
Several articles of number are placed on a table, say a box of matches, a bag of beans, a reel of cotton or ball of string, a large stone, a stick, a photograph, and various coins with the date side turned down. Each of the company is provided with a card on which these articles are written, and the object is to guess as nearly as possible something about each; for instance, how many matches there are in the box, how many beans in the bag, the length of the string, the weight of the stone, the length of the stick, the age of the person in the photograph, and the date of each coin. The right answers are, of course, ascertained beforehand and written on a card in the hostess"s possession.
Observation
The real name of this game may be something else, but "Observation"
explains it. A small table is covered with a variety of articles, to the extent of some twenty or thirty. It is then covered with a cloth and placed in the middle of the room. The players stand round it and the cloth is removed for a minute (or longer). During that time the aim of each player is to note and remember as many of the things as possible. The cloth is then put on again and the players have five minutes in which to write the fullest list they can of the objects seen.
Scents
A more puzzling compet.i.tion is to place a row of large bottles on the table, all numbered, at the bottom of each of which is a small amount of liquid bearing a noticeable scent. Some may be toilet scents, and others medicines or essences used in cooking. A card numbered according to the bottles is given to each player, and the game is to guess as many of the scents as possible.
The Topsy-Turvy Concert
The performers in this concert, who should be of nearly the same size, take their places behind a sheet stretched across the room at the height of their chins. They then put stockings on their arms and boots on their hands (or this may be done before they come into the room), and stand looking over the sheet at the company, with their hands and arms carefully hidden. The concert begins by the singing of the first verse of a song. Immediately the verse is finished, the singers, stooping down so that their heads disappear from view, thrust up their arms and wave them about, the effect being that of a row of people standing on their heads. The chorus is thus sung. Then they pull down their arms and put up their heads again and sing the next verse.
The Dancing Dwarf
This is a very amusing illusion and easy to arrange. All the players but two are sent out of the room and these stand behind a table. One stands close to the table, his arms in front of him so that the fingers rest on the table. Boots, or stockings and shoes, are put on their arms and a long dark cloak is thrown over the shoulders of the first player covering the one behind him. The one behind furnishes the arms by thrusting his out in front. The little feet resting on the table show from the folds of the cloak and give the appearance of a dwarf. The players are then called back and the dwarf, whose face should be disguised, performs any feat that they ask for--he sings a song, or makes a speech or prophesies the future of any one who desires it, always ending with a wild dance performed by the arms and hands of the other person. The light should be turned down somewhat and the audience should be straight in front of the table to keep the illusion at its best.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE DANCING DWARF]
Charades
"Charades" can be written in advance and carefully rehea.r.s.ed, but in this book we are concerned more nearly with those that are arranged a few minutes (the fewer the better) before they are performed. As a rule a word of two or three syllables is chosen, the syllables are first acted, then the whole word, and then the audience guess what it was. Sometimes the word is brought in, both in its complete form and in its syllables; and sometimes--and this is perhaps the better way--it is acted. Thus, if the word were "Treason," one way would be to make the acts themselves anything that occurred to you, merely saying "Tree" with some distinctness in the first; "Son" or "Sun" in the second; and "Treason" in the third. The other and more interesting way would be to make the first act relate to tree-felling or tree planting, or, say, a performance by Mr. Tree; the second to a son or the sun; and the third to some treasonable situation, such as, for example, the Gunpowder Plot. On account of the time which is occupied in preparing and acting it is better to choose two-syllabled words--which, with the whole word, make three scenes--than three- or four-syllabled ones; although there are certain four-syllabled words which split naturally into two halves of two syllables each.
"Parsimony," for example, could be performed: Pa.r.s.ee, money, parsimony. As a general rule the charades that are arranged during the evening are better performed in dumb show, with plenty of action, than with any talking at all. Under the circ.u.mstances gestures are so much easier than words and not any less amusing.
Dumb Performances
Very good fun can be had also from impromptu pantomimes, where the performers enact some story which every one knows, such as "Aladdin"
or "Red Riding Hood" or "Cinderella"; or a scene from history proper, or from village or family history. The contrast between the splendor of Cinderella"s carriage in the story and the old perambulator which has to serve in the charade only adds to the fun. Every one, being dumb, acts to the utmost. It is sometimes more amusing if all the parts are turned upside down and a boy plays the heroine and a girl the hero. Where the scene is too tremendous for any representation to be given, it is best to meet the case frankly and use, as they did in Shakespeare"s day, written labels, such as "This is Aladdin"s Palace."
Dressing Up
It is, of course, much more fun to dress up; but dressing up is not so important that a charade is spoiled without it. If, on the day of your party, you know that charades will play a part in it, it is wise to put in a convenient room a number of things suitable to dress up in.
Then at the last minute there need be no furious running up-stairs to pull things out of closets and boxes, and the unpleasantness will be avoided which sometimes follows when you have taken somebody"s best clothes for a rather violent performance.
Almost the best garment there is for dressing-up purposes is a fur coat. While priceless for Red Riding Hood"s wolf it will make also most of the other animals in the Zoo. A soldier"s uniform is a great possession, and a real policeman"s helmet has made the success of many charades. Most kinds of hat can, however, easily be made on the morning of a party out of brown paper. Epaulettes and c.o.c.kades are also easily made of the same material. Powder or flour for white hair, some corks for moustaches and beards (you hold them in the candle for a minute and wait till they are cool enough to use), and a packet of safety-pins should be in handy places. Cherry tooth-paste makes serviceable rouge.
Tableaux Vivants
"Tableaux Vivants" are a change from acting, but they need, if done at all well, a great deal of preparation and rehearsal, and are therefore perhaps better left to older people. But quickly-arranged groups representing (not too seriously) scenes in American history might be good fun.
Remarks on Acting
The drawback to all charades and dressing up at a party is that they make away with so much valuable time of the players who are out of the room, and unsettle those who are left in. It should be the first duty of every one taking part in acting at parties to decide quickly on the subject or word, and to perform it quickly. Many and many a party has been spoiled by the slowness of the actors outside. Historical or family scenes with no dressing up and some action are perhaps better than much dressing up and absolute stillness. In "Canute and the Waves," for example, it is better that the incoming tide should be represented by a boy rolling slowly over the carpet than that there should be nothing but fixed eyes and stern faces.
RAINY-DAY GAMES
This is a chapter written to meet the needs of several children shut up together in bad weather. The chapter on "Indoor Occupation and Things to Make" gives suggestions for a single child, but here are a few suggestions for several occupations for a group of children, which do not mean the destruction of the furniture.
Any one of the games given in the chapter "In the Train" is suitable for rainy days.
There are of course many games treated elsewhere in this book which can be played on rainy days indoors. Many of the parlor and outdoor games are equally suitable for indoors. All the card games and back-gammon, checkers, etc., are invaluable resorts in case of a long dreary day, but there are a few other recreations which, in some families are saved for such occasions.
Bean-Bags
One of these is the old fashioned game of bean-bag. One rainy morning can be spent in making the outfit. The girls can be occupied in making the cloth bags, from six to ten inches square, partly filled with beans: and the boys in making the board which is shown in the ill.u.s.tration.
It should be about three feet square of any sort of boards and propped up at one side so that it forms an inclined plane. Five holes are cut in it, about seven inches square, all but the centre one which is only five inches square. The players stand off from six to twelve feet according as their skill increases with practice and try to throw the bags through the holes. There are various rules for playing the game which you can arrange to suit yourself, or to make a change. One way is have the bags in sets of six, each six being of one color, different from the others. The players stand in a line and all throw at once, trying to get their six bags in the holes as soon as possible. When they have thrown their bags they rush up to the board, gather up those which have gone wild and run back to the firing line.
The one who gets his six bags in first wins the game. A bag thrown through the small centre hole counts as two.
[Ill.u.s.tration: BEAN-BAG BOARD]
Another way to play it is to throw in turn, each throwing all his six bags one after another. The one who gets most in is the winner.
Ring-Toss
Ring-toss is another game in which skill can be acquired only through practice and it is very good for rainy-days. It is really indoor quoits, and is a favorite game for shipboard. Any one with a little patience and care can make the rings which are of rope fastened together with slanting seam, wound with string so that there is no bulging, overlapping hump at one side.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ROPE RING]
A stake is nailed upright to a board (the stake can be a section of an old broom handle, or a smooth, small, straight peeled branch of a tree) and the outfit for the game is complete. It is played with the same rules as quoits (see "Outdoor Games for Boys"), and a very considerable degree of skill can be obtained by practice. As in pitching quoits, the rings should be thrown with a little level twist to make them whirl about.
Ring-the-Nail
A variation of this can be played with common large nails and bra.s.s curtain rings. Eight nails are driven into a board in a circle, leaving about an inch sticking up. In the centre, one is driven, standing about three inches tall. Small rings, curtain rings, for instance, are thrown toward this. Each time they encircle one of the lower nails is counted five, and the centre nail ten.