Hunter's Cloak

By Lord Brian Goodheart

General type: Physical, Chasing

Adult Involvement: Supervisory as a minimum. Direct involvement optional.

Props: One or more of cloak, blanket, tabard or other large spare clothing.

Premise:  The children chase each other tossing the clothing to catch each other.

Number of Children: Two to many.

One group of players start off as being Animals. The kids may enjoy making various animal sounds as they play. The other group are Hunters. The Hunters toss the cloak (or clothing) to catch the animal. When a hunter catches an animal they both change sides. The new hunter uses the cloak used to catch them.

All the children will get to take turns chasing and being chased. A large outdoor play area works best.

A very important rule to get across is that the clothing is tossed. Wrestling to get the clothing on is not allowed. That tends to get into very forceful play in which someone could get hurt. The proper toss for the clothing has it completely out of the Hunter’s hands by the time it touches the Animal. Only light contact by the clothing is required to count as a success catch.

While adults can certainly join in the game it is important for the adults to watch how the catching is being done. It is possible for the adult involved to take a breather from being an active participant and just watch that safe play is being adhered to.

In this game no one is to be tied up in the cloak. Doing this would also require breaking the “let go” rule.