Did anyone else do this as a kid?

[grumpyduck]

As a kid, like back in the late 50s early 60s...

My next door neighbor and I used to watch movies on weekends, like war stories, cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers, medieval stuff, and then go outside and act them out. We had a lot of suitable toys, but it was mostly about re-creating and re-imagining the stories.

Sometimes, when we didn't have a specific prop, like a ray gun, we would use sticks we found.

It was a lot of fun.

[LakeArenal]

1. At the risk of blowback... that seems like a boy thing.

Mr Lake had a great cowboy outfit and a great Indian out fit.

Had a cool six shooter and some toy bow and arrows with the suction cups.

He had lead soldiers and he had plastic soldiers.

He built forts with the Lincoln Logs.

[highplainsdem]

6. I was a tomboy. Got a cowgirl outfit with six-shooters one Christmas, as

did my sister and a female cousin close to our age, a gift from an aunt. Rode horses whenever possible. Climbed a grain silo, swung from ropes across the barn and from tree branches over a bend in the creek. Had a BB gun. Played all over my grandfather's farm, sometimes climbing cliffs, and we kids (my brother and sister and the two cousins closest to our age) had what we called "forts" all over the farm where we'd stash important supplies like candy bars and fishing tackle.

[samnsara]

2. we only had girls in our family..so, no.... but i do still have the plastic machine gun squirt gun

..my grandpa got me for Christmas. I think I played house with it...

[wnylib]

28. I remember watching The Wizard of Oz at my cousins' house

the first time it was on TV. Afterward, the cousin who was my age, her younger twin sisters, my younger sister, and I went outdoors and reenacted several scenes fr9m the movie.

[WheelWalker]

3. Tarzan...

Swinging from the vines over hanging the creek near the house. Discovered I am hyper-allergic to poison ivy.

[highplainsdem]

4. Yes. Kids played in the real world, using their imaginations and

getting some exercise, rather than playing video games. Much healthier for brains and bodies.

[Boomerproud]

10. Exactly.

Carving roads in our gravel driveway and playing with my Tonka dump truck for hours and going into the house and making beds for Barbie with mom's washcloths and then
going back outside and riding on the teeter totter with playmates.

[Irish_Dem]

5. True story:

I have some friends who had two boys. When the boys were young they wanted to raise them
without gender stereotypes. So they got the boys a large size toy kitchen, stove, refrigerator, etc.
My friends were so proud of it.

One day they came into the boys' playroom and the boys had taken the whole set apart and made
a fort and guns with the parts, playing cops and robbers, Indians and cowboys, etc.

[highplainsdem]

9. Honestly, I don't think even little girls should have been given the learn-to-be-domestic

toys.

"Here, little girl, stay inside and practice changing your baby doll and pretending it's fun to do household chores rather than have adventures."

All kids should be encouraged to be adventurous.

They should also be taught from an early age to help with chores and with caring for younger children. But that's teaching basic responsibilities, not play.

[captain queeg]

7. My sister tried raising her son without toy guns

When they came to my house he couldn’t wait to play with toy guns with my son. She relented when they visited and let him play, but they had to shoot “robots”. They couldn’t pretend to be shooting any humans or even living monsters. As he grew up she finally let him have a couple toy guns.

[Polly Hennessey]

8. I was a tomboy and remember all of that. We made our

own props and used our imagination.

[BlackSkimmer]

30. Same here with my sister and me.

We played everything. I remember we were playing some war game (dressed in little uniforms) when our new neighbors moved in. They had two girls too, and said they were so disappointed that it was only boys next door lol.

They were amazed to find we were girls and we all became fast friends. But we both stayed tomboys.

[Runningdawg]

11. Yes. But my best friend takes the prize for reenactments.

He was watching a movie with his BF at the time, they were about 10. Both had huge families and they were at his friend's house, next door, having a BBQ. The 2 boys saw water burning from a shipwreck in the movie and thought that was really cool, so they proceeded to dump anything in the house or garage labeled flammable into the above ground pool. Then they flipped in a match.
Yes. He burned his house down.
The only injuries were from a belt.

[XanaDUer2]

12. I remember a friend and I re-enacting Logan's Run

This was the 70s

[Nictuku]

13. My friends and I acted out "Welcome to my Nightmare" by Alice Cooper

We danced and sang along with all the songs. "Cold Ethel" was our favorite for some reason.

[XanaDUer2]

14. I like it nt

[Nictuku]

15. Oh! When I was even younger

The babysitter's daughter and I used to put on GoGo Boots, and dance (and climb up on the woodpile) to the song "These Boots are Made for Walking"

That was fun. And then "Hair" came out and for some reason the babysitter's parents didn't allow us to do that one.

... yeah, I'm dating myself. I'm at the very end of the Boomer generation.

[XanaDUer2]

16. My mom had the original cast recording of Hair

I'm a little kid singing, Sodomy...

No one stopped me

[Nictuku]

17. Love it!

I have the Original cast "Hair" CD and play in my car. Definitely get a little 'cringey' on some of the songs. I know they were pointing out racism, but anyone passing by the car might hear the song that goes through every (negative) descriptive for a black person.

But then there is: Good Morning Starshine, the Earth says Hello!!! and "What a piece of work is man"

I love that soundtrack, still!

[EYESORE 9001]

18. My group favored WW II reenactments

Combat and The Rat Patrol were must-watch TV for our inspiration.

[TheBlackAdder]

24. I had a Rat Patrol set with Jeeps, German vehicles and action figures.

[wnylib]

29. My oldest brother was a toddler during WWII.

The rest of us were born after the war. (The time gap between us was due to my father being in the Navy during the war.)

When I was very young, I vaguely remember my brother wanting to play "Japs and Yanks."

[Chainfire]

19. It was a world of cap guns, cowboy heroes, and black hatted villain's.

The Gun lobby trained us early, and well.

[MOMFUDSKI]

20. The boys played army and we girls

were the nurses after they got 'shot'. We made crepe paper outfits and had a Miss America Contest. The 'army' boys attended and we had a blast. Boys and girls living together. Also did plays using the clothesline to hang blankets for our curtain. Sang and danced. Made tents to hang out in and roller skated around the block. First pass you had a broom to sweep the stuff off the sidewalk so as not to hit a stone on the second pass. Helped teach each other to ride bikes. Softball games in the alley. This was all co-ed. I could go on. Had a great childhood. I was so lucky.

[Croney]

21. When I was 7 in 1951, I practiced my quick-draw and morphed into Roy Rogers chasing bad guys around

the neighborhood on a daily basis. That was the year I got in trouble for telling some younger kids that Santa Claus was just their parents. I was a clever girl, but not a wise one.

[Emile]

22. I grew up in a tougher neighborhood. Us boys would

wear two layers of clothes and have BB gun wars with live ammo.

[captain queeg]

23. Oh yeah but we had a couple rules

We all wore goggles or safety glasses. Also only BB guns, no pellet guns or anything that you could pump up multiple times.

[SonofDonald]

25. I didn't prepare that well

I’ll be 64 in 6 days

I still have some BB scars

Even a single pump BB gun will leave those

If you’re really, really, close.

[Mr.Bill]

26. We acted out all the Disney serials.

Davy Crockett, Spin and Marty, The Hardy Boys, etc. Usually it included singing the theme songs, too.

[wnylib]

31. My brother wanted to act out Swiss Family Robinson.

He was 3 years older than me and there were no girls my age in the neighborhood, so I often tagged along and covered for him when things went wrong.

This happened when he was 10 and I was 7. There was a huge double empty lot 6 blocks away from our house. A real estate developer owned the land and had abandoned a project after excavating foundations for two intended apartment buildings. The holes filled up with water and created two ponds. We were absolutely forbidden to play there. But that's where my brother decided to build a raft.

He told me to help him gather "driftwood." Nothing there but some broken tree branches. He collected the largest and thickest ones and tied them together, then filled in the spaces with smaller branches. When he was done, he used a long stick as a navigation pole. Told me to wait on the "shore" while he tested it and promised to give me a ride across the pond.

When he was halfway across, the raft broke apart, branch by branch, twig by twig. It wasn't a very deep pond and he was a good swimmer. But how could he go home soaking wet, with soggy, muddy sneakers and socks?

We sneaked into our back yard through a service alley and I went inside to unlock the basement window while my mother and aunt watched soap operas. My brother slipped in through the basement window. I got some dry clothes from his room. He changed in the basement and went back out through the window. We used the outdoor faucet to rinse the mud out of his sneakers and clothes. Then we spread them on the lawn in the sun behind our garage where they could not be seen from the house windows.

My mother never knew about the Swiss Family Robinson raft adventure.

[electric_blue68]

27. I think I am my cousins might have done a little of that. I was both a tomboy & girlie...

We cousins played a lot of running around games...red rover and others, in one very long back yard - suburbs.
The other one we built a snow fort with snow bricks! 🧡

We might have done a bit of cowboys and Indians.
But I began to like the clothing of the Plains tribes, then learned more about other tribes of other regions. I began to sympathize w them instead .

We climbed trees. Luckily both of my suburban relatives had no problem with letting us girls climb! Only I didn't have strong enough arms to hoist my myself as high they did . A strong grip, and strong legs, yes.

One cousin and I did a bit of (this goes back 😄 ) Diver Dan, Finley and Baron baracoda.

My girlie side by 5th grade was *jewelry*(!), and after The Beatles hit Carnaby St & Twiggy Brit fashion, then later fancy long gowns! Still love fashion and make my own 🥰jewelry if various kinds! (but no metalsmithing w torches, and stuff)

OTOH my tomboy side- I had a six shooter, probably a cowboy hat.
Definitely I had armour, sword & shield! Miniture knights, too. 👍
I loved to build things!! Still do, I need to by some Lego again! I had fake cardboard "bricks", possibly Lincoln Logs, and 😄🧡 Tinker Toys, 🥰 😄Legos!!!

My friends and would also climb rocks in the park.

And my folks got me a year's worth of mini science kits. Growing up where girls were was less in sciences. In fact my first later on Texan friend of sane age - when she voiced she wanted to be an astronaut - say sometime in 4th to 6th grade (early mid 60s) she was told; "Silly, girls can't be astronaughts". 🤬

Love the Earth & Space Sciences. Terrible at higher math. Calc & Trig?! GAHhhhh! 😩😄 I was Soooo Happy when I found out I didn't have to take math in Art College! 🤩🥳

Wasn't able to really get chemistry (some day "Chemistry for Dummies" ). I got the general overview idea but not particulars. I did get more over the years.

[Not Heidi]

32. I made weapons

I made a bow out of a stick and a rubber band, and the arrows were other sticks.

My favorite weapon was a switchblade made of popsicle sticks.

[Prairie_Seagull]

33. Me and a friend from down the street make a mock-up of the bridge of the Enterprise.

Inside his garage. It was Complete with phasers, tricorters. All out of cardboard. Spent forever looking for enough cardboard. I wish I had a picture. I was damn cool. Other kids found out about it and we were quite popular for a time.

Rock fights were big when I was small. Used trash can lids as shields. Just poor kids trying to have fun.
There will be blood. Not much but some.

[Marthe48]

34. We watched the movies but didn't act them out

I had brothers and a sister, and we had some fun make believe games we played. My parents had 5 acres of wooded land outside of Cleveland. There were several buildings on the property, and we had access to all of those. Great for hide and seek. We were allowed to play in the woods, as long as we stayed in sight of the house. We knew our outer limit was when we could see a tiny patch of the back wall near the roof through the leaves. If we rode our bikes, we could see Cleveland laid out from the top of the hill on our street. The hill was a physical challenge we all mastered as soon as we were allowed to ride our bikes on the street. Good memories.

[Laffy Kat]

35. My sister and I played "Honey West" or "Batman & Robin"

Batman was easy because all we had to do was pin a towel around our neck for a cape. We took turns being Batman. For Honey West we'd wear our full slips and borrow a garter from Mom to hide our cap gun. We had to switch-out being the bad guy. Fun times.