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Statues (also known as Red Light, Green Light in North America, and Sly Fox, Grandma's/Grandmother's Footsteps or Fairy Footsteps in the United Kingdom) is a children's game. There are variations of play throughout different regions of the world.
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One person starts the game in the "curator" role (It, Granny, Pooh, etc.) and stands at the end of a field. Everyone else playing stands at the far end (distance depends upon playing area selected). The objective of the game is for a "statue" to tag the curator, thereby becoming the curator and resetting the game.
The curator turns their back to the field, and the "statues" attempt to race across and tag the curator.
Whenever the curator turns around, the statues must freeze in position and hold that for as long as the curator looks at them. The curator may even be allowed to walk around the statues, examining them. The curator needs to be careful – whenever the curator's back is turned, statues are allowed to move.
If a statue is caught moving they are sent back to the starting line to begin again, or, in some versions of the game, eliminated.
Red Light, Green Light is a variation of Statues played throughout North America. The title of the game refers to the colors of a traffic light.
There are different levels of stringency in regard to how much movement the Caller may observe to send a player back to the start. Some allow general movement as long as the players are not moving their feet from the ground, while others restrict any large bodily movements, such as swaying of the arms or even smiling. Blinking and breathing are generally permitted.[ citation needed ]
In the Dutch version, the Caller shouts "Annemaria Koekoek!" ("Ann Maria Cuckoo!") when they turn around (like "red light!") which is slightly similar to the Dutch name of a Peekaboo game played with babies, where the parents hide their face with their hands, then reveal themselves whilst saying "Peek-a-boo!" (also known in Dutch as "Kiekeboe!").[ citation needed ]
Winnie the Pooh is a variation of Statues where the person playing "Pooh" (the Curator) usually leans against a wall and has to shout "1, 2, 3, Winnie the Pooh, stop!" (so it is long enough for the players to reach some distance and because of the rhyme it provides in Bulgarian, where this version comes from) before turning to face the players. Whenever a player tags Pooh they have to run so it doesn't catch them. If they manage to go back to the wall where Pooh was leaning before it catches them, they become Pooh and the game starts over. In this variation the role of Pooh is more desirable.[ citation needed ]
Another variation of the game was altered as a team building exercise. It follows the Red Light, Green Light rules with exception that if anybody moves after the red light the whole team must return to the starting line. Also, the object of the game is for the players to "steal" an "object" positioned near the "it" person and return with it to the other side of the field. Once the "object" is moved it has to stay hidden from "it", who has several chances to guess who has it at the moment. If guessed successfully then the whole team must return to the starting line.[ citation needed ]
