The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

Five Tappers

In grade school we used to play a game during
lunch when we had to stay inside due to bad weather.
The game was played by everyone in the class. The
supervisor of the class would pick five people at
random to be the tappers. The rest of the class stayed
at their desks. The students at their desks had to put
their heads down on the desk and cover their eyes so
they couldn't see. Then once everyone was all set, the
five tappers would go through the room and each would
tap one person. Once a person was tapped, they
put one hand on top of their head so the tappers would
know who was already tapped, and nobody got tapped more
than once. When each tapper tapped a person they went
to the front of the room; then the class lifted their
heads. The ones who had been tapped stood up next to
their desk and tried to guess who was the one who had
tapped them. If the person guessed correctly, the
one who tapped them had to go to their desk and the one
who guessed right took their place as the next tapper.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

Date learned: 00001970S