An Outdoor Game

When my oldest, who’s now 17, was about 6 we played a game called Red Indian.  Not a politically correct name nowadays but it was called that none-the-less.  CM wrote about it in Home Education on page 88.  We play a variation that we made up ourselves.  Here’s how we do it.

As I’m meandering down our dirt road, the children run up ahead and hide in the bushes.  They are to stay as quiet as they possibly can in hopes that I will not spot them.  If I pass by where they are hiding without spotting them, they pop up and let me know it and then take off running to hide again.  I just sort of look at the ground or walk backwards while they run to hide.  If I spot them in their hiding place, I yell "Red Indian!"

Our terrain where we live is covered with small scrub oak bushes, so it’s perfect for this game because the children can really camouflage themselves.  Yesterday was Justus’s (4yo) first time to play it.  He loved it.  It was quite interesting to see how the kids could be right next to the road and I would pass right by. 

This little guy’s blue coat caught my attention.

In CM’s version of Red Indian about 4 kids will hide together in an ambush.  Then the ‘enemy’ scouts for them, and after locating their ambush, tries to get within reach of them without being discovered.

I hope you and your kids have some fun with these ideas.