Healthy August - A Classic Game of Hide and Seek

This is our fourth suggestion for some fun this summer under the heading of Healthy August and it is the classic game of Hide and Seek.

The aim of the game is to find and tag as many players as possible before they reach Homey or Home Base.

You Will Need: You don't need anything other a group of friends, family or Study Buddies except to keep to the agreed rules.

How to play:

1) Decide who will be first up a "IT", the seeker.

2) Agree the boundarys of the hidng area, what is allowed and what is defiantly out of bounds - like grandad's shed, or outsdie the garden on the road. Everyone needs to be safe and sensible.

2) Decide on the location and size of Homey. If you're playing in the garden, you might choose the step, patio, or porch. In the park, you could agree on a bench, but avoid selecting something like the roundabout that moves when you get on and off. Be cautious of the swings as well; don't pick a spot too close to them to prevent anyone from being kicked by someone swinging, as they run toward Homey. Then agree a zone around Homey, where peopel are not allowed to hide. If IT stays so close to the home base that no other player has a fair chance to making it back without being tagged - it sort of spoils the fun. Therefore, with this rule - it means IT is forced to hunt further out.

3) Finally, agreed upon the "Out" zone. If IT tags you before you reach home safely, you are out, and must sit in the out zone until the next IT is selected. You can cheer for anyone attempting to reach home while being pursued by IT, and you can even support IT, but you cannot reveal the hiding spots of others to IT. That wouldn't be good sportsmanship!

3) When IT is ready, they close their eye and count to 100, while the remained of the players rush off to find good hiding places.

4) Once IT has reached 100, they can open their eyes and shout "Ready or not, here I come" and set about finding the others.

5) Players can leave their hiding spots and dash towards home when IT is a safe distance away, looking elsewhere, or pursuing someone else.

6) Continue the game until everyone is ether home or out.

7) Decide who will be the next IT. When we play this game, the youngest player starts, and we proceed by age until everyone has had a turn, or until we all become bored and want to switch to a different game.