Rules for Kick-The-Can
Rules for Kick-The-Can
Number of participants: Three or more playersLength of time: Fifteen to 30 minutes, or until dinner's ready
What players will need: Plenty of places to hide and a flat place to leave the can, a play area where nothing (like a window) can be damaged by a flying can
Background: Kick the Can is the urban cousin of hide and seek. The sound of a can striking the pavement has long been a signal to city dwellers to watch out for hiding children.
Rules of the game: Start by choosing one person to be It. To start the game, this player gets to kick the can as far as he's able. The players scatter to find hiding places as the can rolls. It then chases after the can and brings it back to home base. Once he brings the can home, It counts to 50 (or 100) with his eyes closed. When he opens them, he starts searching and the fun begins.
When It finds a hider, he calls out this player's name. If the hider can kick over the can before It does, he's safe. If It makes it to the can first, the player whose name he calls out is captured and must wait in the jail (next to the can). The players in jail are not hopeless. A brave soul can risk capture to save them. If this person can kick over the can and call out "Home free" without getting captured by It, the jailbirds are free to run and hide from It again.
The game continues until all the jailbirds have been captured. The first person caught becomes It in the next game. If jailbreaks keep the game going on too long, the first person who is caught three times becomes It and a new game begins.
