In the summertime I could spend hours playing Jacks. And when I talk Jacks, I must talk Grandma Pearl. My Grandma Pearl taught me many things, including how to knit, BUT as a child, I was most impressed with her Jack playing expertise. This old lady was a Jack playing wizard! When she pulled out her little bag of Jacks, she was 10 years old, sprawled out on the floor, flinging the ball, and picking up Jacks at break neck speed. Impressive. When I first started playing, I was all thumbs and felt terribly clumsy. But, Grandma was patient. She gave me tips, gave me more than my fair share of "start overs", and was willing to bend the rules on more than one occasion. 

But her patience paid off. Before long, I could play Jacks with the best of them. I even became a rival to Grandma Pearl, although I never surpassed her Jack playing prowess. For years, in the summertime I never went anywhere without my jacks and jump rope. Yesterday, Fairy spent the night. It was great fun giving her her first Jacks' lesson. When she was leaving this morning, she said, "Gammy, I think I need to borrow these." Borrow indeed. I will be ordering more Jacks this afternoon!

A few suggestions for teaching Jacks to children. Most Jack sets come with 10 – 15 jacks. When children are first learning the game, use only 5 or 6 jacks until they have mastered the technique. Using less jacks makes the game go faster and it is easier to hold less jacks in small hands. 

Jacks is a game of skill and requires a certain level of fine motor skills. If your child is becoming frustrated with the game, put it away and try again in 6 months. Fairy was trying to pick up the jacks and catch the ball without success. She is 6 years old. I thought maybe I should stow them away until next year, but she wanted to keep trying. So, I removed the metal jacks and I had her practice throwing the ball up, letting it bounce once, then catching just the ball. When she was doing that consistently, I had her throw the ball up, and slap the floor before she caught the ball. Although she is still chasing down the ball frequently, she is pleased with her progress. When she gets comfortable, we will start adding the jacks. Trust me, even adults will need to go through a learning process, but, it is worth it. Jacks is a great game to play with friends or alone. It is inexpensive, needs little space to play, and is an easy take-along game. Enjoy!

BTW… this evening I will be announcing a fun In the Good Old Summertime giveaway. Check back later 🙂

These are the rules and variations as I learned them from Grandma Pearl.
  
Equipment:
1 small rubber ball
10 – 15 jacks
Jacks should be played on a hard, smooth surface like a floor or a table.

Note: When playing with small children, you can play with a smaller number, like 5, to make the game go faster and so they can easily hold all the jacks in their hand.

Safety: The jacks and ball present a choke hazard. Keep them out of reach of children under 3.

Determining Who Goes First
To determine who goes first, place the stack of jacks on the back of your hand. Throw the jacks into the air. When the jacks are off your hand, flip your hand over, and try to catch as many jacks as you can in the same hand that threw the jacks. The person that catches the most jacks goes first and the play continues clockwise.

Fouls
A player fouls and loses their turn if:
the player does not catch the ball after it bounces once
the ball bounces more than once
if the player drops a jack or the ball
if the player picks up the incorrect number of jacks
if the player touches any jacks other than the one(s) they are picking up
When a player commits a foul, they have "fouled out" and they lose their turn to the next person. When it is their turn again, they must continue at the level they fouled out on.

CLASSIC JACKS
Throw your 12 jacks on a table or floor. NOTE: It's easiest to collect the jacks if you throw them so the jacks fit in a 12" circle. If the jacks are too far apart, it makes picking them up harder. If two jacks are directly on top of one another, you may use the "kisses rule", which allows you to pick up the two stack jacks called "kissing cousins", and drop them again. This is only permissible if the jacks are directly on top of one another, not if they are simply close and next to one another.

Onsies:
To begin play, the ball is thrown into the air. While it is in the air, pick up 1 jack in the same hand you threw the ball with, and catch the ball in the same hand after it bounces on the table or floor once.

You may now transfer the jack you just picked up to your other hand, and continue picking up the remainder of jacks, one at a time.

Twosies, Threesies, etc.
After a player has successfully completed a level picking up one jack at a time, play continues in the same manner, only this time the player must pick up 2 jacks at a time, which is called twosies. When a player has successfully completed the level picking up 2 jacks at a time, he moves on to 3 at a time, or threesies.

Winning
The game goes on progressively adding 1 jack at each level, until the first player reaches the level where they successfully pick up all the jacks at one time. The have won this round of jacks. 

Note: For levels where the jacks cannot be divided equally, you pick up the required amount of jacks, until there are not enough jacks to make up the required amount, then you pick up the remainder on your last throw. (For example: If you are played with 12 jacks and you are on fivesies, you would pick up 2 groups of five. There are now only 2 jacks left. You would then pick up the last 2 together.)

There are many variations to the game. Here are a few I played with Grandma Pearl.

TAPSIES
Played like Classic Jacks except, when you pick up the jacks, you must tap then on the table once before you catch the ball. Sometimes we played that 2 or 3 taps were required before you caught the ball.

NO BOUNCE
Played like Classic Jacks except the ball is not allowed to bounce before you catch it.

DOUBLE BOUNCE
Played like Classic Jacks except the ball must bounce twice before you catch it.

AROUND THE WORLD
Played like Classic Jacks except after you pick up the jacks, before you can catch the ball, you must circle the ball with the hand holding the jacks.

PIGS IN A PEN
Played like Classic Jacks, but instead of picking up the designated number of jacks, you put the jacks, or pigs, in a pen. To do this, place your non throwing hand on the table, palm side down. Raise your palm off the table, while keeping your fingers on the table. This creates a space, that becomes the "pen". Then, instead of picking up the jacks, slide them into the "pen" without picking them up. 

EGGS IN A BASKET
Played like Classic Jacks, but instead of catching the ball in the hand with the jacks, you must transfer the jacks to your other hand before you catch the ball.

Did you play Jacks as a child? Do your children/grandchildren play Jacks now? Do you have any variations of the game to share? We'd love to hear from you 🙂