Up, Jenkins! (indoor game)

Players: 6 or more in two teams
Materials: Large coin, square table, chair for each player

Divide the players into two teams, each team sitting at opposite sides of the table. Both teams choose a Captain, who gives the commands for his team.

One team starts with a coin—preferably a large coin—that team members pass back and forth under the table. When the opposing Captain calls “Up, Jenkins!” the team with the coin must clench their hands and raise them above the table so that all hands are visible to the opposing team. Of course, the coin is hidden in one of these hands, and it’s the job of the opposing team’s Captain to find it.

When the Captain calls “Down, Jenkins!” players must slap their hands flat against the tabletop, and the player with the coin has to hide or disguise the sound of the coin hitting the table. Her teammates may help by slapping their hands down loudly, or bumping the underside of the table with a knee, but no shouting is allowed.

Now the Captain, by consulting his teammates, must discover which hands covers the coin. One by one, he asks players to raise their hands. For every wrong hand he chooses, the coin team gets a point. If he chooses the correct hand the first time, he gets a bonus of 5 points for his team.

Sides reverse, with the coin team now calling “Up, Jenkins!” The first team to reach 25 points wins the game.

Collected from The Little Giant Book of Kids’ Games by Glen Vecchione