Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-24
chill OREN'S GAMES
Good Ideas to Keep Young:
Folks Amused.
NEW AND OLD BOTH
FEASTING GOES ALONG WITH
EACH KIND.
Easy Sports to Arrange for, With
Plenty Fun in
Them.
NEW AND OLD BOTH

Written for The Evening Star.
Once more the me-honored Christmas
season is upon US. All things around us
call for gladness. Homes have been made
bright with decorations of holly and of pine,
and that delightful feature of Christmas,
the Yule log is ready to burn and crackle
on to greet the festival morning. Too fire.
quently while these time-honored evidences
of the Yuletide are present in force the true
holiday spirit is woefully lacking. Pity tits
that our Christmas day has grown to be
sadly misunderstood. The thought of the
Christ Child has been crowded out with the
burden of gift-making.
When all her family and friends have
been suitably supplied with offerings and
these gifts daintily tied up and sent on
their various ways the strength and energy
of the donor are often at an end, and she
collapses utterly. This overstrained woman
does not give herself up to thoughts OF
''good WILL, but to feelings of complete ex-
haustion. When such conditions exist
and they are only too frequent-Who can
be merry and able ito keep the feast?' One
may be thankful but only that Christmas
day comes but once year. OF all the giad
Christmas carols, God Rest You Merry
Gentemen''-and women certainly must De
incuded-alone will appeal to the tired ar
ranger of the holiday festival.-~These COM
forting lines hold out possibility OF rest
ahead.
How much better it would be to change
all this-make less of the gift feature and
more of mirth and good cheer, make the
celebration genuine jolly time in fact ana
not in fancy and let the merry-making be
shared with the children of the househoId,
for Christmas is first and foremost the chill
dren's day. and. no matter how old the
youngsters live to be, they never forget
their early celebrations of tins festival:
what father and mother used to do at
Chrstmas' is a fayOrite story with folk in
every age and generation.
Feast of Course
The festival would fall short of its mis-
sion if feasting were left out of the pro-
gram, and feast thy good neighbor the
great with the small is an injunction that
is carried out to the letter in the family
gathering of the day.
The festivities usually commence at night
or late in the afternoon, and as Christmas
this wear falls on Sunday, of course Mon
day will be recognized socially. The prin-
cinal feature of the Christmas festivity IS
the tree and after that has been enjoyed
games come into play, Joined in alike by
Young and old. The hostess mas Hau LEI
hands already full to overfiowing, so eab-
CRATE set games are too much trouble 10
be good sport. The impromptu ones SIN
pie enough for the veriest tot to JON IN, are
most fun.
A gift hunt is lots of fun Amusing
little presents are hidden in out-of-the-way
places, and to each gift is attached eit
ferent coored piece of twine. Ihese olI-
ferent threads are twined ABOUT pictures,
under chairs and even over transoms, ana
the present hidden beneath the articles
somewhere. Each player is given the free
end of the string, and the hunt pesihs'
Threads less intricately arranged are given
TO the younger members OF the party.
There are bursts and peals OF iaushtef
when the funny presents are run TO cover
Jack Frost.
lively and jolly game particularly ap-
nropriate to the season is Jack Frost.
circle has to be formed of the players, and
the "ringleader" in the game calls out,
Where is Jack Frost?' Some one who
acts as assistant runs into the ring swing
ing a wand and, going over to one OF the
circle, touches his right hand. This person
is now No. l. Each person then turns to
his neghbor on the left and says. Jack
Frost came this way" No. must then
ask, What did he do?' No. replies, He
nipped my right hand" No. l at once
shakes his right hand vigorously No.
turns to No and says Jack Frost came
this way" and No. 3 asks, What did he
DOR The reply is the same as in the first
case and No. 3 begins TO shake his digits
violently. In this way the game proceeds
until every player is shaking his right
hand. Jack Frost then touches with his
wand the left hand of No. l, and the same
questions are asked and carried out as be-
fore Jack now attacks the right foot, then
the left. The players are now shaking both
! hands and feet and jumping up and down,
when the sturdy little fellow nips first one
ear and then the other. The effect is SYM
boized by inclining the head in the direc-
ton of the lobe attacked, bobbing the head
from side to side. The question is now
asked, HAS Jack Frost quite done you
upr' With the head shaking very positive
Eyes the game ends.
Easy to Plan.
Fruit basket is another game that needs
no preparation. circle is formed, as be-
fore, and the instgator of the fun goes
around giving each player the name of
| some fruit He then stands in the center Of
the circle and calls out quickly three times
the name of a fruit. Before he finishes the
| player who has the name of the fruit men,
| toned has to call it out or take his place
| in the ring It's the hardest thing to say
| huckleberry, for instance, or the name Of
| some unusual fruit just in the nick of time.
When the game begins to drag a bit the
| ringleader calls out in alarmed tones, THE
! fruit baskets upset. Then all scramble
| to change chairs, and the miXup is great
| sport.
Still another game is to have one member
| of the party leave the room, while the rest
! select some object in the apartment, and
How do you like it. where do you like it,
| when do you like it?" All the players I'M
| dertake to inform him. 70 se.
| Suppose door knob lis selected. In an
| swer to How do YOU like it?'' "round"
| would probably be given. Where do you
| like it?' ION a panel of wood, and
| When do you like it?' could be replied to
with when we want to get in or OUT
A Modern Edition.
| game more particularly for the tiny
children is modernized edition of the
old-fashioned fox. All form a ring eX-
cept one, the fox, who stays outside The
| fox slyly passes around the players and
| suddenly touches the shoulder Of one of
the children. The fox then runs to the
left and the child he has touched to the
| right. Whoever first reaches the place they
| started from, called the den, holds the place.
and the other becomes the fox and must
| hunt den.
Blind mans buff is an old favorite which
has been brought up to date by using
| spoon to discover the identity of the person
| caught. You have no idea how difficult 1t
| is to accomplish this with a spoon. The
game in its new form is called a spoonful
| OF fun. In acting proverbs half of the COM
| pany go out of the room, and the others
| remain seated. Those outside settle upon
some well-known proverb, such as "A roll
no cc's mr. A ~,