What's the time, Mr Wolf?

For the album by Noisettes, see What's the Time Mr. Wolf? (album).

What's the time, Mr Wolf?

Players	3 or more
Setup time	<1 minute
Playing time	No limit
Random chance	Low
Skill(s) required	Running, Strategy

What's the time, Mr Wolf? (also known as What time is it, Mr Wolf?, Grandma's Footsteps, and in the United States What time is it, Mr. Fox?) is a form of tag played in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the USA and the English-speaking Caribbean.

Basic rules

One player is chosen to be Mr. Wolf. Mr. Wolf stands at the opposite end of the playing field from the other players, facing away from them. A call-and-response then takes place: All players except for Mr. Wolf chant in unison "What's the time, Mr. Wolf?", and Mr. wolf will answer in one of the two ways:

1) Mr. Wolf may call a clock time (e.g., "3 o'clock"). The other players will then take that many steps out loud as they go ("One, two, three"). Then they ask the question again.

2)Mr. Wolf may call "Dinner Time!" Then Mr. Wolf will turn and chase the other players back to their starting point. If Mr. Wolf successfully tags a player, that player becomes the new Mr. Wolf for the next round.

Variants

It is not uncommon for Mr Wolf to be allowed to look around at the other players, before answering the question; especially if there is a rule involving penalties applied to Mr Wolf if a player reaches him before "Dinner time" is called.

There is also a simpler version of the game where Mr Wolf faces the other players, who must remain stationary until "Dinner time" is called. If any player moves on a time of day being called, that player becomes Mr Wolf.

In another version, Mr Wolf holds a dandelion seed head and blows on it. The other players dance around him/her, taunting him "What's the time, Mr Wolf?" After each blow, Mr Wolf calls out "1 o'clock", "2 o'clock" etc until all the seed head has been blown away. Then, he calls out "Dinner time!" and chases the other players to tag them before they can claim sanctuary at pre-designated points called "Bar". The players claim "Bar" by yelling out "B - A - R Bar" and touching the safety point. The skill is in deciding when the seed head is going to be completely blown away, as the players cannot run away until this happens. It could happen after one blow by Mr Wolf, or several. The first player tagged becomes Mr Wolf for the next round of the game.

Similar games include Lupo Delle Ore in Italy, and Captain Midnight in the United States, in which everyone has to start running at midnight. The game also bears some resemblance to Red light, green light and Dahrumasan ga koronda.

Another variant of this game which has become popular is "Mr. Shark, Mr. Shark, what time is it?" The big difference is that this game is played in a swimming pool, lake, or other swimming area. When Lunch Time is called the player may try running through the water or swimming to get away from the shark.

Popular culture

The game was the basis for a 1992 song of the same name by New Zealand band Southside of Bombay which appeared on the soundtrack of the film Once Were Warriors.

What's the Time Mr. Wolf? is also the title of a 2007 album by British band Noisettes.

What Time Is It, Mr. Fox? (the common name for the game in US) is also the name of a cabaret art rock band from Boston.

There are also children's books with this title that are inspired by the game, including one published in 2003 and illustrated by Annie Kubler (ISBN 085953944X) and another published in 2007 written and illustrated by Gemma Raynor (ISBN 1845392779).