Entertaining Friends in Basement

Most of the boys have a loud nature. They like to wrestle and tumble and make noises. They cannot sit quietly for so long. So it is always necessary to keep some mattress on the basement ground to prevent the boys from hurting themselves. Find out in this article what are the other necessary things in your youngsters fun game.

Less noisy but still lots of fun is a “Jar Ring Toss.” A board about twenty-eight inches square is prepared by driving at an angle twenty-three nails three inches long part way into it or by screwing into it little right-angle hooks like those used to hold curtain rods. Each hook is given a value of twenty-five, twenty, fifteen, ten or five points. Figures can be cut from a calendar and pasted on.

The board can be hung against the wall or set on a table. Its center should be about shoulder high. The players stand ten feet from the board. Each is given twelve rubber jar rings, which he tries to throw onto the nails or hooks having the highest numbers. The players throw three times in a play and rotate four times. It is well to mark the rings with crayon or paint so that each person may identify his own in counting the final score. “Miss the Bell” is a game that’s fun and easy to arrange for. A bell is suspended in a hoop about eight inches in diameter and a small ball is given to the players. They take turns tossing the ball through the hoop without causing the bell to ring. One point is scored each time the ball goes through and three points are scored if the bell does not ring.

“Basement Button Snap” is our glorified version of tiddlywinks. Draw two chalk lanes about a foot wide along the floor and supply each player with two buttons. One he places on the staring line. With the other he snaps the first one down his lane to the goal as soon as the signal is given. Snapping consists of pressing the edge of one button with the other in such a way that the under one flies ahead. If a button leaves its lane it must be put back at the starting line and snapped on its way again. Obstacles over which the buttons are snapped add interest to the game. The player who first drives his button to the goal wins the game.

“Barrel Toss” is a good game for a change. The players stand about twenty feet away from a barrel and throw stones or wooden blocks into it. Each may have five throws and a point may be awarded for each stone or block that goes in. The throwing line may be put farther back when the players are experts.

Boys always like to wrestle and tumble and practice rolls and falls. These lads will have endless fun if you put an old mattress on the basement floor. The boys will need no rules or encouragement to start their fun. They’ll soon create their own contests and maybe get Dad to join the fun.

For children old enough to play with sharp-pointed darts, here’s a homemade game that is fun. Make three darts by cutting the heads from matches. Slit one end so that a piece of folded paper about two and one-half inches square can be slipped into the slit. Into the other end of the match force the eye-end of a large sewing needle. A circular target whose outside circle is not more than fifteen inches in diameter is drawn on a wall board or a piece of heavy cardboard and hung shoulder high on the wall.

The players stand about eight feet away from the target and each tries to throw the three darts so as to pierce the target as near the bulls-eye as possible. For each dart that sticks firmly in a space the player receives the number of points marked in that space. Nothing is counted for darts touching a line.

Turn your youngsters loose downstairs where the walls won’t mar and the floors won’t scuff. The kids will have fun and you will enjoy the quiet order of your living rooms.

Mitch Johnson
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