From the pages of the 1928 edition of the Book of Knowledge, I found “The – Alice in Wonderland – Game”. The directions kind of ramble, but if you read the entire passage first you might be able to adapt the concept for today’s youthful youngsters. The Book of Knowledge was published in England, and only slightly edited for distribution in the United States.
“The – Alice in Wonderland – Game”
All boys and girls know – ” Alice in Wonderland” – and here is a good Alice game.
We prepare a shallow tub and decorate it, with green muslin and pretty wreaths of ivy. Boys will easily put together a lattice made of wire, one perhaps with four large squares or oblongs; the outer circle should be of the same size as the tub. Decorate the lattice with greenery.
Then lovers of ” Alice in Wonderland” collect as many as they can of the people in the book – white rabbits, the Mad Hatter, the Dormouse, Bill the Lizard; and a host of other characters can easily be made up by clever boys and girls. Wrap them carefully in prettily tinted papers, and tie the packets with ribbons or tapes to match, leaving a long, trailing end. All the parcels are now being placed in the tub, in such a way that the ends of ribbon can be drawn through one of the openings in the cover. Then, when pulled by a pair of eager hands, the ribbon brings out with it a package one longs to open. No pack must be opened until the magic tub is empty.
Who will get the White Rabbit, the Black Kitten, or the dear, sleepy Dormouse? How delightful to find a lobster or a walrus, or one of the poor little oysters! A little pig may be in one parcel; a pepper-pot in the next. But the packages may only be felt by those who take possession of them, they are not to be opened until a signal is given, and even then they may be opened only privately – just a peep.
Everybody then scampers to a seat and wits for more fun. A clever grown-up takes a chair in the middle of the room and begins telling the story of “Alice in Wonderland,” and when the moment comes for the dear, fussy White Rabbit to be mentioned a pause is made, the storyteller strikes a gong, and before sixty seconds have passed the child with the white Rabbit must have loosened the coverings that conceal him, run to the side of the storyteller, and hold him up for general observation, pronouncing his name. Sometimes three or four people must run at the same moment; what would the Matter Hatter, the March Hare, the Dormouse, and Alice do without the big teapot or the wonderful watch?
Each boy and girl who succeeds in getting to the center of the room at the right moment takes a chocolate from a box placed close to the storyteller and returns to his or her place until wanted again. This time the concealing papers need not cover the treasure drawn from the lucky tub; it may be placed on the floor by the owner’s feet, so that its beauties may be properly noted. Then, when the story comes to an end a big march past to music takes place, and a boy, wearing the Mad Hatter’s Hat, makes a fine leader of the procession.
Answers to the Game of “What is It?’
1 – King John signing Magna Charta
2 – Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers with their wives and children from the Mayflower
3 – Queen Margaret, the wife of Edward IV, and her little son, saved by a robber