Games of the 1800s

Here are some old-fashioned, unplugged games that families might have enjoyed in the 1800s. We hope you’ll enjoy them, too!

SNAP!

2 to 4 players

• Deal cards evenly face-down
• Players take turns turning over their top card
• If a player turns over a card that matches a card already showing, owners of those two cards race to yell “Snap!”
• Player who yells “Snap!” first gathers all the cards
• Play continues until one player has all the cards

FUN FACT: Playing cards didn’t have numbers until the 1880s. Before then, players hand to count the suit icons—which would have made Snap much more challenging!

HUNT THE THIMBLE

• Send all players but one out of the room
• Remaining player hides a plain sewing thimble somewhere in the room
• It must be in plain sight (not inside anything or covered up)
• Other players return and look for the thimble
• When a player sees the thimble, they quietly sit on the floor without revealing the position of the thimble
• Last player standing is next to hide the thimble

DON’T HAVE A THIMBLE? Anything about the same size will do. Try a board game token, for instance.

THROW THE KERCHIEF

• Stand or sit in a circle except one person in the middle
• One player tosses a handkerchief to someone across the circle
• Player in the middle tries to catch the handkerchief
• All players must keep their feet (or bottoms if sitting) in the same place—they may only lean
• If the player in the middle catches the handkerchief, they change places with the player who threw it

FUN FACT: In the Middles Ages, people used kerchiefs to cover their heads. That’s how kerchiefs got their name—from the French words couvrir, to cover, and chef, head.

WHO HAS THE BUTTON?

• Thread a button onto a long string and tie the ends together
• All players but one sit in a circle and take hold of the string, pulling it tight
• One player takes the button in their fist
• Players pass the button from person to person
• Player in the center tries to guess where it is
• When player in the center guesses correctly, they trade places with the person who was holding the button

ALTERNATIVE: You can also play this game without the string, surreptitiously passing the button from hand to hand. Just don’t drop it!