The Picnic Scramble

MATERIALS:
1. Objects to scramble for, such as lollypops, peanuts, pennies, picnic baskets, candy kisses;
2. A paper bag for each contestant.

The object of this game is to pick up and put in a sack as many articles as possible. The game ends when there is nothing left to pick up. The winner is the child who has collected the most. There are two ways of playing the game. If parallel lines are drawn thirty or forty feet apart, one can be the starting line and the other the "loot line" along which the scramble material is evenly distributed. Children line up along the starting line, each with an empty sack. A two-pound paper bag is a good size. At the game director's signal the children start running to the "loot line " to fill their bags. In the second system of play two concentric circles, instead of parallel lines, are employed. The children stand in a big circle and at the starting signal run toward an inner circle where the "loot" is scattered over the ground. If it is scattered, and not put in a heap, the first child to reach the center cannot fill his sack in a few big grabs. The exact size of the starting circle is unimportant, but it must be big enough so the contestants are not crowded. Ever try to get children to form a circle? Hard, isn't it, sometimes? The easy way is to ask the children to stand in a straight line holding hands. Two adults, one on each end of the line, can then walk the children into a reasonably exact circle with little trouble. The circle scramble is rougher than the parallelline scramble. The Scramble can be either for boys or girls only, or a mixed game. If run as a mixed game, separate prizes should be given to the boy winner and the girl winner. There is a big difference in the abilities of children under the age of five. The fourand five-year-olds have an enormous advantage over children of only two or three years. Therefore if there are enough children present it might be well to run separate scrambles for these age groups. If there are not enough children to make several good scrambles, it is wise to give the younger tots a handicap. They may either be placed ten or fifteen feet closer to the "loot" or given two or three pieces of "loot" before they start. When younger children are playing the game with the older, the parallel-line system is better. A two-year-old could get hurt in the rough-and- tumble competition for "loot" that takes place in the inner-circle game. The game director and judges will do well to make sure that no fond "mamas" help their darlings fill their bags, or that two extra smart children don't combine the contents of their bags so that one may be sure to win. back to picnic games