It snowed at our house over the weekend — much to my delight.
The snow laden pine trees in our yard now look like a Christmas card scene. Forest green limbs dressed in glittering white.
This snowfall called to me like snow sirens. But instead of luring me to treacherous rocky shorelines like mythological sirens, the snow enticed me out into the invigorating crispness of gently falling white flakes.
Our yard is now a perfect game board for playing fox and geese. (All I need now are some willing participants . . . .)
To play Fox and Geese, gather as many grandkids and family members as you can for this game of tag in the snow.
To play this wintry game, make paths through the snow in the shape of a wagon wheel. Stamp down a four foot circle in the center of the wagon wheel. This is home — a safe zone for the geese.
Select one person to be the fox (it). The rest of the players are the geese.
The fox chases the geese along the trails in the snow.
All players must stay on the trails at all times. Players cannot jump from one trail to a different one. Geese may run into ‘home’ for a momentary rest where they will be safe. The fox cannot tag them if the geese are in the ‘home’ circle.
However, the geese cannot stay there very long. After a minute or two, they must leave the home circle.
The fox cannot enter the home circle nor can he tag any geese that are in the ‘safe’ home circle. He may run through the circle in pursuit of a goose if the goose keeps running through the circle and doesn’t stop inside it.
When the fox tags a goose, their roles are reversed. The goose now becomes the fox and the fox becomes a goose. The new fox begins chasing the geese trying to tag one of them.
Play continues until a). everybody gets too tired b). everybody gets soggy, wet, and cold c). the fox gets frustrated because he can’t tag anybody and he is it all of the time d). all of the above!
Oops! The fox fell down and the goose ran away!
You can play variations of Fox and Geese. Instead of making a wagon wheel shape in the snow, make paths that go every which way. Paths that zig. Paths that zag. Paths that curve all over the place.
This adds challenge to the chase.
Have more than one fox if there is a large group of players. Have more than one safe ‘home’ for the geese. And, Grandma is always allowed to have 1-2 (or more) helper fox if she so chooses when she is the fox!
(During the summer, you can make fox and geese paths by spraying white spray paint (or any color of paint) on the lawn. Fox and geese have to run on the painted lines.)
This is a simple activity that you can play in the snow with your grandchildren — an activity that can strengthen your relationship with them and create lots of fun memories.
Happy playing!
16 thoughts on “Fox and Geese”
I love fox and geese. Played with my kids, grandkids and many, many girl scouts
You’re a gal after my own heart!!
I grew up playing this at the beach but today couldn’t remember the details of the rules to teach my children. Thanks!
I just made a pretend circle this morning and emailed it out to my 10 siblings, asking if any of them remembered the rules!! One of my brothers replied that he had looked out at the pristine yard and told his wife he should get out the snowblower to make a fox & geese track. Decided there weren’t enough people to play and couldn’t remember the rules, either. My 81 yr old sister who recently learned how to Zoom asked if none of us had checked online, so I did!! Thank you from all of us!!
Marilyn, using a snowblower to make the circle for fox and geese is an amazing idea! Although when I was growing up part of the fun was stamping out really windy tracks making the game a bit more challenging. So, are you and your siblings going to play??? 🙂
thanks so much for explaining the game of fox and geese. I played it as a child with my sisters and the neighbors. We had many fun times and in winter it’s one of my great happy memories. I’m way to old to play now but I don’t mind sitting and looking out at the beautiful snow with no tracks in it and think about what we did then. Thanks again.
I’m not much for playing it with the grandkids either! But they sure had fun playing — like I did when I was a girl. Thanks so much for stopping by my site.
Thanks for these great directions. I am reading the book “Three Names” to my children as part of homeschool this week. The children in the book play fox and geese. I had never heard of it before and my kids really want to play it! Now we can!
What a serendipitous event to be reading about playing fox and geese and then you reading the directions here! I hope your kids enjoy it as much as I did when I played it as a child — and when I play it with the grandkids!
Thanks for the idea of spraying a course on the grass. We would be waiting for a long time to play this in NW Florida.
This is a trip down memory lane. We played it at recess when it snowed in southern OH.
Brian,
You definitely would wait a long time for snow where you are currently living! What would it be like to use florescent spray paint and play with flashlights in the dark. Might put an interesting twist to the game.
By the way, I love Florida — especially down around the Keys… and especially when it’s winter here in Utah and I’m in Florida!
Hi Laura,
Glad I was of help with Fox and Geese. I loved to play that as a child.
I never heard of 7 steps around the house. If you ever find out how to play it, I would love it if you shared it with me.
I was so happy to find this description of Fox and Geese. I remember playing it in the snow in the field beside our house with my brothers and kids from the neighborhood. I wanted to share it with my grandchildren but couldn’t quite remember how it was played.
Did you ever play one called 7 Steps around the House? I’d love to know how it was played 🙂
My Grandpa would mow the pattern in the long grass before he cut it all. That was how we did it in the summer and no snow. Good memories!
Michelle, that is a marvelous idea! What an awesome grandfather you have. We have spray painted a pattern on the grass during the summer. But I absolutely love the idea of mowing the pattern in the grass. We’ll have to do that this summer for our grandkids!