Keep Away
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Keep Away is a children's game sometimes called Monkey in the Middle or Piggy in the Middle or Pickle in a Dish. It is played essentially like reverse dodgeball because instead of trying to hit people in the center with the ball, you are trying to keep the ball away from them. This game has sometimes been used as an alternative to dodgeball.
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[edit] Rules
The basic game is played by drawing a circle on the ground about ten feet in diameter. One person stands in the center (and is called it, the monkey, the piggy, or the pickle) and the rest stand outside the circle. Then one person outside the circle must throw the ball through the circle to another person outside the circle with the goal being to prevent the person who is it from getting to the ball. This continues until the person who is it catches the ball or otherwise gains possession due to a failed catch, deflection, etc. Then whoever threw the ball last is now it and replaces the person in the center.
[edit] Variations
Like other children's games, this has game has many variations to shape it in the manner they like to play. Some common variations are:
- Playing with a larger area and the person who is it only has to touch the ball instead of catch it.
- The ball must bounce at least once in the circle on a pass to prevent high lobbing passes which can give taller children an unfair advantage.
- When the person who is it catches the ball, he must get outside the circle with the ball without getting tagged by the thrower to make them it.
- The person outside the circle to last touch the ball becomes it instead of the last thrower. This is often used so that the person who failed to catch the ball is it instead of the thrower.
- The person with the ball outside the circle cannot move until he or she throws it.
- None of the people outside the circle can move around and must throw and catch from a constant position.
- The people outside the circle must throw it within a certain amount of time, usually five seconds. This keeps the pace of the game high and prevents players from hogging the ball.
- Playing with larger areas with multiple people being it and even multiple balls.
[edit] Naming
The game goes by different names depending on the region in which it is played. In the United States, the descriptive name "Keep Away" seems to prevail, while Canadian children commonly refer to the game as either "Pig in the Middle" (Western Canada) or "Monkey in the Middle" (Eastern Canada, parts of New England).
[edit] Other meanings
The term "pig in the middle" is sometimes used as slang for being under pressure from both sides of a dispute.
