Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox, What Time Is It?

I don't know what got Justin thinking about Mr. Fox, but during dinner the discussion started. He wondered where he had played that game. I remembered it was from swim lessons this past summer at Cypress Cove.

It was a game Justin and his swim class would play towards the end of their lesson. It was good practice for them to be reaching and stretching their arms to catch people just like they would use them to swim. It was a fun way to practice something useful.

Justin enjoyed the game during his swim lessons, so after dinner, the kids began playing. As you can see here, Benjamin is Mr. Fox and he is trying to get Anna, Emma, and Justin. Anna is a little further ahead than Emma and Justin, and probably the only safe one. It looks like Justin has tumbled to the floor and that Emma is about to drop like her brother.

There are different variations online of how you could play, but here's how we played the game based on how Justin learned it:

Mr. Fox starts out at one end of a field, room, or designated area with his back to the group. The group at the other end then yells out “Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox, what time is it?” Mr. Fox then calls out a time that is on the even hour (1 o'clock - 12 o'clock). The group then takes that many steps towards Mr. Fox. As people get closer to Mr. Fox and continue to ask him what time it is, he can answer, "It's lunch time" and begin chasing them to tag them. Mr. Fox can continue to tag everyone, if he wants to, but the first person tagged is Mr. Fox for the next round.

Another variation I saw online is similar to how Justin played, but once people are near Mr. Fox and ask him again, he yells out, "Midnight" instead. Mr. Fox then turns around and chases the group. Those that he catches are to sit out. The last one left becomes the fox. Another variation is to allow each child who is tagged to become an honorary fox and help catch people.