Our Childhood Games
Jacks: A Guild Girls’ Obsession
told by The family
The family describes jacks as a Guild girls’ obsession, explaining the basic progression from onesies through tensies and how a missed jack or ball ends a turn. More difficult variations included Sweeps, Eggs in the Basket, Double Bounce, Crack the Egg, and Pigs in the Blanket.
In the family's own words
A Guild Girls’ obsession
The basic Jacks game was onesies, twosies, threesies. Usually sitting, the first player scatters the jacks on the floor or sidewalk. In onesies, the player picks up one jack at a time, with one toss and one bounce and catch of the ball. After picking up all ten (one by one), you move on to twosies. In this round you pick up the jacks two at a time and so on. When a player misses a jack or the ball, her/his turn is over, and the other player begins. The first player to make it successfully through basic tensies wins. Once a player has successfully completed Basic Jacks through tensies she/he goes on to more difficult variations, again starting with onesies and proceeding through tensies.
Sweeps: Instead of picking up the jacks, we swept them close to our body. Eggs in the Basket: We tossed the ball, picked up a jack and put it into our left hand before catching the ball. Double Bounce: We let the ball bounce twice before catching it. Crack the Egg: We tapped (cracked) each jack on the ground with the right hand before putting it in the left hand. Pigs in the Blanket: We tossed the ball, picked up the jack and nestled it under our left hand, which was cupped.
ONE O’CLOCK AND THE GHOST ISN’T HERE. (See page 20, Barb’s memories for Guild rules.)
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Our Childhood Games, told by The familyRelated stories
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