Traditional Indoor And Outdoor Games - online book

An Illustrated Collection of 320+ Games & Entertainments For Kids of All Ages.

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CHAPTER VIII
Active and Outdoor Games
JAPANESE FAN-BALL
T HIS game is adapted for a lawn-party, when active young muscles feel energetic. It is played with the ordinary Japanese paper fans with handles, or with palm-leaf ones, and pretty paper balls of different colours, six or eight inches in diameter, which are inflated by the breath through a tiny hole. This closes with a paper valve from the inside, which prevents the slightest escape of air.
A goal-post—two uprights, six feet apart, and a cross-piece—is set up at each end of a field the size of a tennis-court, and a smaller one in the centre, mid-way between the end goals.
Two captains are chosen, who each makes his or her selection of a team, so that the players are equally divided. Two antagonists play at once, standing in front of their respective goals, advancing at a signal from the captains, fan in hand. As the umpire claps her hands—for it is preeminently a woman's game—the captains on both sides toss their balls high in air. The two players then try to keep the balls aloft, each by fanning and guiding them towards her opponent's goal. The balls should be made to go over or under the middle barrier and then through the goal of the opposite side.
If the ball falls to the ground, the player may pick it
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