3 Years Ago

Off Topic: Variations In The Game Of Jacks

When I was a kid I was the queen of Jacks. My best bud Bethann and I used to play for hours and hours. My husband was deprived of this childhood tradition, so I bought a set of Jacks on Amazon so I can whip his butt mercilessly play with him. Now, I remember how to play the game and all the variations of how to throw the ball, bouncing, and picking up Jacks. What I can't remember were the formations we made after you complete tensies. By formations I mean we used to place the Jacks on the floor in very specific patterns for the next rounds. The only one I can remember is Around the World, which was just a big circle. A preliminary search on Google seems to suggest we were the only ones who played this way. So what I need to know dear readers, does anyone remember any Jacks formations, or even playing this way?

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Becky Titus

3 Years Ago

Good for you! I loved playing jacks and I still have some, but it's not as easy to get up from the floor as it used to be, plus there's no chance my husband will play!

Yes, definitely around the world, except our version of it was that you had to make a big circle around the ball with your hand / arm and also pick up the right number of jacks.

Another one is double bounces, and I'll rack my brain to see if I can remember some more...

Susan Maxwell Schmidt

3 Years Ago

Yeah, that stuff I remember. What I'm talking about is setting up the jacks on the floor in a specific pattern. I know the Around the World you're talking about too, but the one I was describing was setting up the jacks themselves in a big circle. You had to do a onsie, twosie, threesie and foursie, then make the circle again and do two fivesies, and then again and do a tensie. There were other patterns in which we set up the jacks, but I can't remember any of 'em.

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