by Lynne S
(Virginia Beach, VA)
This was a popular game to play with the neighborhood kids when I was little. It is used to learn colors. I remember how we used to beg our parents to buy us the big boxes of crayons just to learn new colors that we could use to play the game. When I began teaching, the kids in my classes also liked to play this game during recess.
In order to play the game: Pick a fox or someone who will be IT! Pick a Mother Hen. The rest of the players are "eggs". Mother Hen names all of her eggs. The names should be colors if you want to play the original version of the game.
All the players agree upon a relay course that the players must run if their name is called. For example, players will run from the "nest" to the tree and back to the nest. The fox calls out colors and if he/she calls out a color which is the name of one of the eggs, that egg must run the relay course.
The fox tries to tag or catch the egg. If the fox catches the egg, the egg must go to the fox's den. If the egg makes it back to the nest, the egg is safe and is declared a "good egg". Good eggs can't be called again to run unless they are renamed.
This process continues until all the eggs are either home safely in their nest, or in the fox's den! Then, the game is started over again. Players pick a new Mother Hen, a new fox, and new eggs with new color names.
The target group is children ages 5-12. Nothing is needed to play the game other than perhaps a box of crayons for "egg name" suggestions. The game usually takes about 15 minutes to 1/2 hour to play depending upon the number of "eggs" in the nest. If the fox is a younger child, Mother Hen should try to keep her egg names simple in order to avoid frustration!