The Witch in the Well

"The Witch in the Well"

A lovely game, best played during recess in your parking lot playground...usually between 2nd and4th grades.

One person is "the witch" and they stand over in the designated "well" area, waiting for their part.

One person is the "mother" and everyone else is one of her many "children".  The children stand in a line- we had a stone wall that we used to line up against.  The mother says the following while walking up and down the line, tapping the kids hands "one potato, two potato" style.

Mother says- in a sing-songy type way:
"I'm going downtown to smoke my pipe
I won't be back till Saturday night
Don't get into the CAAANDY"

Mother does a loop around the parking lot/schoolyard.  The children turn and pretend they are eating tons of candy in mom's absence.

Mom returns and questions the children three times, "Did you get into the candy?"
Each time they reply, in unison, "Nooooo motherrrrdearrrr" (hands behind their backs).

Then she says, "Let me see your hands" and they reply, "Daddy chopped them off with a butcher knife"
I think this part is asked/responded to twice.
(all of the above is said in sing-songy voices)

Mom then goes down the line, and one-by-one checks each child's hands and announces what type of candy that child has been caught eating (candy canes, m&m's, whatever).  Sometimes she might say something gross like chocolate-covered snails...

She then sends them all to the well to wash their hands.
(Cue the witch)
The children try to go to the "well' and the witch scares them and chases them away.

They come back 3 times and tell the mother "There's a WITCH in the WELL" but mom doesn't believe them because you know, they already LIED about eating candy and hands being chopped off...seriously, would you believe that line?

This is where my memory gets a bit fuzzy because the mom follows them to the well and sees that the witch is for real.  Then I think we would just start another round or move on to Chinese Jumprope.


This game was SO MUCH FUN and if you weren't asked to play, it was a serious bummer.
I don't think we ever thought about how odd it was that mom would be downtown smoking a pipe or that dad might chop off your hands.  WTH?

Now you really wonder about my education and upbringing, right?
I promise you it was nothing scandalous or crazy.

But hey, in the K-4th grade building recess yard, there was also a "Naked Machine"....some Catholic school, eh?  I'll tell you that one some other time.  In truth, it's kind of stupid and not nearly as disturbing as the Witch in the Well.