Acting and Dramatic Games Wolf
( Acting and Dramatic, Chase and Catch, Command and Response, Hide and Seek, Tag )This is an admirable hide and seek game where there are many hiding places as in a village or the country.
One player is chosen for the wolf who goes off and hides. The rest of the players are sheep with one of their number as leader. A place is chosen for a pen where the sheep must stay and blind their eyes while the wolf is hiding. This pen may be a tree or rock or a square or circle drawn on the ground. The leader counts one hundred to give the wolf time to hide. The sheep then start out but must all follow their leader “like sheep ” looking for the wolf in each place where the leader may search for him. This game differs from most other hiding games in that the searchers are the ones who have to flee for safety when the hider is discovered. As soon as the wolf is spied the leader cries —
“All my sheep
Gather in a heap
For I spy the woolly woolly wolf ”
The sheep at once stand still until the wolf has taken a jump toward them which he must do before he may chase them but immediately that the wolf has made his leap the sheep all turn and run for the sheep pen the wolf following. As the wolf may not run until he hears the word “wolf” at the end of the leaders lines the latter often tantalizes the wolf by saying “I spy the woolly woolly–lamb ” or “the woolly woolly–cat ” or names any other animal he chooses with a pause before the name to prolong the suspense of the impatient wolf finally ending up with “the woolly woolly–wolf ”
Any sheep tagged by the wolf becomes a wolf and joins the wolf the next time hiding either in the same den with him or in a separate den. When there is more than one wolf the leader halts his sheep whenever he spies a wolf whether it be the original wolf or not and all of the wolves join in the chase when the sheep run back to the pen. The game ends when all of the sheep have been caught.
The wolf has several resources at his command for catching sheep in addition to a simple chase. If at any time while in hiding he spies the sheep before they spy him and considers their position in relation to the goal advantageous to himself he may call “Stand your ground three feet ” whereupon the sheep must instantly stand still and then take three steps toward the wolf and stand again until he jumps toward them when the chase for the sheep pen begins. The wolf may also exercise considerable finesse by running directly for the pen if he be in a position to reach it quicker or more directly than by chasing the sheep. Should he reach the pen first he may then tag the sheep as they run in. One sheep may act as a decoy to engage the attention of the wolf while the others run into the pen.