Jacks
I played Jacks as a kid at camp. Serious jacks. Jacks with kids whoplayed jacks for a living, or would have, if you could make a living atjacksBasic Jacks:
Flip for who goes first. Then work your way up from onesies to tensiesand back down to onesies. Begin by throwing the jacks out on the floor.Then, taking a ball (you can use the little ones that come in the setsor we always preferred the "Pinkies" (tennis-ball sized pink rubber balls)you throw the ball into the air, pick up the correct number of jacks andletting the ball bounce once, catch the ball while still holding the jack(s). You can only use one hand. Your turn continues until you miss the ball,miss the jacks, move a jack, or drop a jack you've just picked up. Thenyou are out and it is the next person's turn.
For instance, on onesies, you'll pick up one jack at a time, until you'vecollected all ten. (You may put the jacks you've collected into your otherhand or on the ground before you try to collect more.) On twosies, youpick them up two at a time.
On threesies, you pick them up three at a time, with one left over.You pick up the leftover(s) by itself. If you pick up the leftover beforeyou've picked up all the evenly grouped jacks, you are putting the horsebefore the cart and therefore must call "cart" as you take the leftoverjack(s). On Foursies, there are, obviously, two groups of four and twojacks in the "cart." Fivesies has no cart. Sixsies has one group of sixand four in the "cart." And so on.
If you throw the jacks and two (or more) are touching it is Kissiesand you have the option of picking up the kissing jacks and dropping themto spread them out. This is sometimes advantageous; sometimes not.
FLIPPING: By flipping, we mean you take all the jacks in the palms ofyour two hands held together, throw them into the air as you turn yourhands over so that the backs are now upwards with index fingers touchingto form a surface onto which you will catch the jacks. Now, throw the jacksinto the air again, this time returning your hands to the palms up positionat which you started. Catch all the jacks? Good. When flipping for first,the player who drops the least goes first. If none drop, the you take turnsflipping until someone drops one, determining who goes first.
You may also decide to flip at the beginning of a game.Flipping is doneon your first turn only, and only until you drop a jack. The level at whichyou drop the jack(s) must be played from those dropped jacks. You continuefrom there. Thus, if you drop 2 jacks on your third flip (threesies), youwould have to pick up the two jacks together (since at threesies you aretaking them three at a time) and then continue with foursies. How far youcan flip is decided at the outset of a game:flip only to fivsies, flipto tensies, flip all the way, and no flipping.
The Winner: The first player to complete the agreed upon steps. In BasicJacks, the first player to complete the challenge of going from Onsiesto Tensies and back down again to Onsies.
BEYOND BASIC JACKS:
Fancies are specialty jacks rounds. At the start of a game, the playerswill decided how many and what kinds of fancies will be included. Therewas a huge collection of fancies that were just common knowledge when Iwas a kid. Some fancies are short: a simple chant with a certain patternof activity that composed the whole fancy. Some fancies are long: a certain,trickier way of picking up the jacks that was performed from onsies totensies.
Thus a game might be agreed upon: "Flip to tensies. Five fancies; twolong, three short." meaning players can flip as far as tensies, but mustplay tensies back to onesies no matter what, then complete two long fanciesand three short fancies in order to win.
Contributed by Amee Abel
