Play is a fragile thing. You get too busy and it disappears. You push too hard to make it happen and it’s no fun. You think about it too much and it ceases to be play, and starts to feel like work. After a few decades of drifting toward safety concerns, structured children’s activities devoted to achievement, and passive electronic games, there’s a backlash as folks return to good old-fashioned free play.

The surprise best-selling how-to manual for fun, “The Dangerous Book for Boys,” has galvanized the play movement, but it’s success isn’t isolated. A handful of national organizations devoted to supporting the importance of play and recess — Alliance for Childhood, National Institute for Play — have blossomed. Adults are forming kickball leagues and teaching old-fashioned games to their children with a quiet determination.
And there are practical reasons to support play.
- It fosters imagination and creativity.
- It helps kids learn how to get along with others.
- It relieves stress.
- It is a strike against the so-called obesity epidemic among kids.
- It is like, as some play advocates say, being inside a video game.
But then, there you go again, thinking too much about play and quashing the very spirit of the enterprise. We hope you’ve enjoyed the old-school games, and that they give you something to do as summer winds down. Don’t think too hard about why we play, just do it. Game on.
JACKS
------ HISTORY: ------
The first to play it, and we kid you not, were Cro-Magnon cave kids, who needed hand-eye coordination to become good hunters, according to the Strong National Museum of Play. Later on, the Egyptians played a similar game called knucklebones, using the toe bones from sheep. Over the centuries everything from stones to today’s six-pronged metal jacks have been used.
----- EQUIPMENT: -----
A small bouncy ball, 10 to 15 jacks. Sets can be bought at most variety stores for about $4 to $10 depending on how fancy they are. Some come with cloth bags to keep them in.
---- PLAYERS: -----
Two to six is best if you don’t want to sit there all day. And, of course, you can play against yourself if you want.
----- WHO GOES FIRST: -----
Each person throws all the jacks in the air, and the person who catches the most goes first.
---- RULES: -----
The object is to pick up all the jacks. Scatter the jacks on a smooth, flat surface — the floor is best. Toss the ball up, pick up one jack, and after the ball has bounced once, catch it with the same hand. Continue picking up one at a time, until all jacks are picked up. Then throw the jacks again, and pick up two at a time until all are picked up. Then threes, fours, etc. In some sequences there will be leftover jacks. Pick them up, as sets.
---Mistakes that make you lose your turn:------
Using wrong hand to catch the ball; not picking up the correct number of jacks; allowing the ball or jack to touch your body while catching the ball; catching the ball with both hands; not holding the ball or jacks until task is complete; touching other jacks while trying to pick up a jack or group of jacks.
----WINNER: -------
The person who makes it first from onesies to tensies, and back down again to onesies (doesn’t have to happen during one turn, so keep track of where you are in the sequences).
---- MORE FUN: -----
There are a variety of ways to play, some depending on fancy ways to pick up the jacks and the ball.
---- IF BORED: -------
Quit the game and see how many jacks you can spin at one time. They look like little ballerinas.
(Source: gazette.com