Long summer days blended seamlessly into sultry summer nights with a dark that was so deep each star was a tiny pinhole on a speckled sky. Fireflies swarmed in droves daring barefooted children to chase them and experience their magic.
And somewhere between the long days of swimming and the long nights of chasing fireflies was a buffer. A purple twilight – and this is when we always played Kick the Can. Never in the day, never in the night, but always at that magic hour between the two.
How to Play
You’ll need an empty can with no sharp edges to nick little toes and a group of at least four players.
- Choose a “kicker†and set the can up a few feet from the kicker.
- The kicker kicks the can and then covers her eyes and counts aloud to 100 while the other players hide.
- After 100 is reached the kicker puts the can upright and goes to find the other players.
- When a player is found, the kicker calls their name and both race back to the can. If the kicker kicks the can first the player must stand by the can as the kicker seeks the next player. If the player kicks the can first then the game is over and a new kicker is chosen.
- As players are being sought they can free captured players by stealthily running up to the can and kicking it without being spotted by the kicker. Then the captured player and his liberator return to hiding.
The game ends when you get called in for bed.
photo credit: P Farrell 95
