Basic Play
One person or a team of people is designated as "it" and a can or similar object—paint can or metal pail or bucket—is placed in an open space: the middle of a backyard, a green, a cove or cul de sac, parking lot or street. The other players run off and hide while "it" covers his or her eyes and counts to a previously decided number. "It" then tries to find and tag each of the players. Any player who is tagged (caught and touched) is sent to the holding pen (jail) which is simply a designated area for all the captured players to congregate, generally in plain sight of the can. Any player who has not been caught can "kick the can" or "tip the can". If they can do this without being caught, then all of the captured players are set free. Alternatively, one of the captured players is set free each time the can is Tipped—the first person caught is the first to be set free, the second caught the second to be set free, etc. until the person Tipping the can is tagged or all the captured players are freed. If "it" catches all of the players he or she wins that round and generally a new "it" is designated for the next round. The new "it" is usually the person that has been held the longest by the time round ends.
Read more about this topic: Kick The Can
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