Red Rover, an Old-Fashioned Children's Game
Red Rover is Fun For Boys and Girls Six to Ten Years Old
Oct 15, 2009
Red Rover is an old-fashioned game that kids can play without needing an adult to referee, and it requires no equipment.
Red Rover is for children between 6 and 10 years old. Older children are too large and strong to play Red Rover safely. The children making up the teams can be different ages, but should be fairly close in size for safety’s sake.
Children can and do fall while playing, which is part of the fun, so Red Rover should not be played on a hard surface. A large lawn, grassy field or sandy beach is perfect. It can even be played in the snow.
Basic Rules for Red Rover
Red Rover requires a group of kids, preferably at least a dozen, divided into two teams. Twenty or thirty can play all at once, although the game will take longer when teams are large.
The object of the game is to capture players from the other team. The game is won when one team has captured all the players on the opposite team. If the children decide to quit playing sooner, the winner is the team with the most children when the game stops.
To start, two captains are chosen. One captain gets first choice (decided in any of the time-honoured ways, such as flipping a coin) and then the two captains alternate choosing one child each until there are two teams with the same number of kids. If there is an uneven number, the littlest child on the larger team goes over to join the other team.
Each team forms a straight line, with children standing side by side and holding hands to make a chain. The teams face each other about 20 to 30 feet apart.
How to Play Red Rover
The captain that had second pick at the beginning starts the game. After conferring with his or her team, the captain decides who they want to capture from the other side. Then they all call the name of the person they want (for example, Jason) by hollering, “Red Rover, Red Rover, we call Jason over!”
Jason then runs across towards the other team’s line and tries to crash through a pair of clasped hands to break the chain. He can pick any spot he wants. If he gets through the line, Jason takes one of the players where the chain broke back to his team. If he is stopped, he is “captured” and becomes part of the opposing team at the spot where he tried to break the chain.
Then the other team decides who they want, and they call that person over and try to capture him or her. The teams alternate choices until a winner is declared.
Strategy Needed For Red Rover
There is a lot of strategy involved in Red Rover. Usually the captains try to put bigger children next to smaller ones to make the line as strong as possible, because a runner from the other team will try to run through his team’s line at the weakest link.
The captain wants the biggest kids to make his team stronger, but calling over a bigger kid increases the risk that the opponent will break through his line and capture one of his own players instead. A smaller child is easier to capture, but adds a weaker link to his team that the opposing team may take advantage of later on.
The runner who is called over can choose any spot on the opponent’s team to try to run through and break the chain. Picking an easy spot with smaller or weaker children can make it easier to break through, but if he does, he takes a smaller child back with him to his team. If he or she is a fast runner, a tougher spot can be the better choice in order to bring back a stronger child — provided the runner can break the chain.
If children on the chain fall but they are still holding hands and the runner is stopped, the runner is still captured.
Safety Concerns While Playing Red Rover
Runners cannot run into people, try to knock people down or jump at the clasped hands. They can only run in between players to try and break their grasp. When they hit the line, either the chain breaks or it doesn’t. Runners cannot keep trying to push through after being stopped.
Children forming the chain must hold their arms straight out at their sides with their hands about waist high, not raised up. Raised arms can “clothesline” a running child across the throat. That is not part of the game and can be very dangerous.
Children must hold hands, not wrists. Holding wrists can result in sprained or broken wrists.
If children have not played Red Rover before, they should be supervised until they fully understand the rules and learn how to play this game safely.
Played properly, Red Rover is a great way for kids to have fun, run off steam and learn to work together. And the best part? When played to the end, Red Rover concludes with all the children on the winning team.
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