Kick the Can in Front of 3209

(Pure Guild Version.)

Kick the Can is the favorite American version of Hide-and Seek. We often played this in the street in front of 3209. The player selected to be “It” has the pleasure of choosing who will kick an old tincan as far as possible to signal the start of the game. The instant the can is kicked the players run to find hiding places, usually within prescribed boundaries. (For instance, our yard and McFarland’s yard only.) If the kicker purposely doesn’t kick the can hard the players chide him, shouting, “baby kick” and make him or her kick it over again. “It” then runs after the can, replaces it in its original spot, now called “home base”, and counts to fifty out loud, with eyes closed, usually with face to a tree trunk, to give the other players that amount of time to hide. “It” can cheat by skipping numbers but must start over if caught by someone near enough to hear. After “It” has finished counting, he/she proclaims, “Ready or not, here I come!” and sets out in search of the hiding players. When “It” spots a player, he/she calls out the hider’s name and rushes to beat that player back to put his foot on the can. If “It” gets there first he calls the person, “out,” and the hider is captured and must remain silent or else he/she becomes “It.” When all players are caught the last payer is “It” on the next turn. Captured players can be freed by a hiding player who gets to the can without being spied by “It” and manages to kick the can, yelling, “Home free!” “It” tries to protect the can from this but may not pick it up to do so, and may not carry the can around with him in searching for hiders. We allowed tripping, shoving, and tackling to protect the can. If he fails, everyone then gets to hide again. And “It” is still it and has to start the game over. In this manner, one inept kid can be forced to be “It” for the whole time the game is played if the other kids decided to be mean, which we sometimes most definitely were.