Four-legged race

kw: holidays, games, observations

New Year's Eve there was game night at our church, an event we've carried on for about ten years. We spend from 7-8:30 pm eating a potluck dinner, then play games until nearly midnight. We stop just in time for a little prayer before the stroke of midnight. The congregation is small, so we prepare games suitable for forty or fewer people.

A favorite is Big Wind Blows, sometimes called Where the Wind Blows. The usual version starts with, say 30 people and 29 chairs, with someone standing in the middle. The person in the middle calls out, "Big Wind Blows!"

Everyone asks, "Blows where?"

Suppose the reply is, "Everyone wearing a sweater." Then only those wearing a sweater have to find a new seat and the "middle" person tries to get one. The person who fails to find a seat is now in the middle and play resumes. We can do this for an hour, easily.

A variation is to use locations, either positively or negatively. For example, the "middle" may say, "I once went to Florida." Then everyone who has visited Florida must find a new seat. Conversely, if "middle" says, "I have never been to Virginia", then only those who have not visited Virginia (even passing through) try to find new seats.

One event was the Three-Legged Race, but some of the kids decided to run in threes, with the person in the middle having both legs tied to the other kids; a Four-Legged Race. Once they figured it out, the trick was this: They decide which leg the person in the middle will move first, either right or left. Then the other two have to move their opposite leg. That way they start out coordinated. They have to follow the lead of the middle person.

Here are three of the boys practicing. Because the middle boy is the smallest, they tried simply picking him up between them and both running. It worked after a fashion, but we ruled that it violated the spirit of the game.

Once you know how to coordinate, it can be done with any number of persons tied together, but Four-Legged seems to be the most fun with the least falling down. One team of girls fell down no matter what they tried.

We also did quieter games, like 20 Questions, with Team A versus Team B, calling out alternate questions, but about a different answer for each team. You have to keep on your mental toes!