When I was younger, games came in cardboard boxes. We had a closet in the hallway that held all the games. Games like Life, Sorry, Clue, Parcheese, Trouble, and the classic Monopoly. Then there were the extravagant games that the neighbor kids had like Mouse Trap and Operation. Operation was super cool because it required batteries and there was this very naughty feeling about pulling out the funny bone. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with this game or why it bothered my mother so much.
We were not allowed to play doctor as kids. There was a pretty even number of boys to girls on our block, so I think the mom’s just averted this dilemma by forbiding us from playing doctor. Instead, we would play “Wounded”. Some one would be the injured soldier and the others would attend to their wounds. Same pig, different dress!
Then there were the outside games like freeze tag, flashlight tag, Tunnel tag, the infamous Trip (see page written about my father), S.P.U.D., Dodgeball, Chinese Jump rope and Kick the Can. Kick the Can required we loiter in the halls of the local elementary school. All you needed was an aluminum can. Th can was the base. Kick the can and free the prisoners. We also played Crack the Whip. This required alot of kids and we usually did it at Girl Scout meetings. I always wanted to be the last kid on the chain, because youusually went sliding across the playground field. We also played “Red Rover, Red Rover”.
Nowadays, games require batteries, electricity, a television, a computer or the internet. I bet my kids can’t do a Hoola Hoop or Double Dutch or manage to get into a swinging jump rope. Do they know how to play Solataire? Or Pick Up Sticks? Oh my, the games we played!
Wow flash back to playing kick the can. I have made a effort to teach my son some of these games. I enjoy playing video games with him, however I think some games should be played outside too. I wonder that too, maybe I should test my son.
I really think that kids today miss something special by not having recess/PE and playing the “team” games – dodgeball, red rover, What Time is it Old Witch?, relays.
Also jumping rope and hopscotch, jacks, mumbly peg, yo-yos etc…
We built race cars out of old wagon wheels and old boards…had tire swings in trees and my sister and I leaned a “country kids game” called JUMP BOARD – a long, wide board over a round board…one kid would stand on one end…the other kid would jump on and the first kid would pop up into the air…then come back down and the 2nd kid would go up…it was a Vertical, stand up form a see-saw on ones feet – (you used to see acts using this in circuses) my sister and I would Jump Board for hours, the board would eventually break and our PawPaw, who was a contractor/builder would supply us with another scrap from a job. There sure weren’t ANY obese kids when I grew up..