What Normal childhood game that you used to play , indoors or outdoors, that you loved to play, but haven't played

[debm55]

Last edited Wed Jan 31, 2024, 02:48 PM - Edit history (1)

since childhood .Mine--- Hide and Seek. What was yours?

[rickford66]

1. Doctor

[debm55]

40. The title said NORMAL

[Harold Shea]

2. Open scissors relay race.

[debm55]

39. The title said Normal,

[Botany]

4. Kick the can and whiffle ball

N/t

[debm55]

8. Me too,

[Archae]

5. Lawn darts.

My parents got rid of them when the news report of a little kid being killed was on.

[debm55]

9. They were scary and dangerous

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

26. Came here to post Jarts!

[debm55]

27. Yes I played too, but they were dangerous.

[arkielib]

6. Kick Ball

[debm55]

10. I played that too.

[sakabatou]

64. Same.

[livetohike]

11. Red Rover. I'd probably break every bone in my

body today, but I loved playing that game .

[rsdsharp]

14. We played that, too. Every year they'd ban it after enough parents complained about grass stains and torn clothes.

But it would be back the next year. They solved the problem by paving the school yard. Playing Red Rover on asphalt is not recommended — even if you’re 10.

[debm55]

28. Is it llike dogpiling? Ty

[rsdsharp]

37. The way we played was that everybody lined up on one side of the playground.

One person stood in the middle of the playground. When he, or she, yelled “Red Rover, Red Rover, come on over,” everybody ran toward the other side of the playground.

The person in the middle tried to stop as many people as possible. It started out as touch, which lasted about 30 seconds before it became tackle. Those people who were tackled stayed in the middle, and helped tackle more people on subsequent runs.

How did you win? Damned if I know. It ended up as a free for all, with lots of dirty and ripped clothes, some bruises, and pissed off parents.

God, it was fun!

[debm55]

43. The girls played a similar game. called Come Over , Come Over and call a member of the the opposite team. The team

calling come would pick a team member . and lock arms.. The called over person would have to break through the locked arms. If they could , they would join the call over team.This would go back and forth until the bell rang or the team had no members. We played on concrete. I didn't like it as we had captains pick and you know how that goes.. TY for the information.

[radical noodle]

78. That's about the way we played Red Rover

There were two lines of kids with locked arms. Then one side called a member of the other team over to try to break through. It would go back and forth. I hated it. As the smallest kid, I was always the one called on and always the one they tried to break through. Ugh! We weren't on concrete, but we were on gravel which is ouchie enough.

[debm55]

83. Yes , I played a couple of times, I have to say some of those girls were nasty.. Some how the stronger girls where on

one team and the the smaller girls (me) on the other. I could never break through. So I went with the jump rope group.

[Diamond_Dog]

104. My experience with Red Rover was like your Come Over, deb.

It’s a wonder there weren’t more broken arms when some of those bigger kids tried to bust through. We played it with neighborhood kids, not at school. IIRC, The team that had the most members won.

[debm55]

105. Yes, we played at school on concrete. Terrible game if you were small. I left playing and stayed with the nerds

[LakeArenal]

56. We called it Red River, too.

[livetohike]

30. Definitely do not play this on asphalt! Ouch and

ouch. I don’t remember anyone breaking bones, but torn clothes and grass stains were the norm.

[debm55]

16. I never played that. Could you tell a little of how it was played? Ty

[livetohike]

29. First you need a group of kids. The more the better, so

Last edited Wed Jan 31, 2024, 04:52 PM - Edit history (1)

let’s say 20. Form two teams of 10 each. The teams face each other in lines about 15’ apart or more. Kids are holding hands and holding tight. Each team decides who they want to call over. Then they chant “Red Rover, Red Rover let _____ (kid’s name) come over!” Then the person called runs full blast toward the line of kids and tries to break through the line. Ouch!!

If they break through the line, they go back to their original team and take the players whose link they broke with them. If they don’t break through, they have to join that team.

The game ends when the recess bell rings. The team with the most players wins. .

Lots of subjectivity in this one, because you could always let the kid break through.

[debm55]

50. Oh the girls did play--with a few minor changes. We called it Come Over, Come over. Ty I describe my version below

[radical noodle]

76. I absolutely hated Red Rover

I was always the smallest kid in the class and everyone would target me as being the easiest to get through. I finally refused to play unless I was forced by the teacher. I venture a guess that I wouldn't be any better at it today.

[debm55]

84. Me too

[hlthe2b]

12. Tether ball, crocket, and tree-climbing

[debm55]

17. I did all three. Loved them. TY

[nocoincidences]

13. Jacks.

I got up into the higher levels where you did outrageous gestures before you could pick them up.

[debm55]

15. I remember jacks. Did you do pick up sticks?

[appleannie1]

21. All the kids in the neighborhood

had a callous on the pinky side of their hand from playing jacks on our smooth cement front porch. I taught that one to my kids and grandkids.

[nocoincidences]

23. It's a great game--

good for visual-motor coordination, learning and executing a complex task, can be played with others or just to entertain yourself and practice. It was both challenging and satisfying, as well as a fun social interaction experience.

[debm55]

61. That was very nice of you. TY appleannie!

[nocoincidences]

24. I'm sure I did, but I

never found it as satisfying as jacks.

[debm55]

88. I guess I wasn't a big jacks player because my older cousins always won.

[nocoincidences]

92. Having bigger hands is

a definite advantage in jacks.

[LakeArenal]

57. I was going to mention Pick up Stickd but it sounded kinda lame compared for RedRover

[debm55]

59. red rover, red rover and come over,come over were basically the same, However the boys version seems more harsh , I quit

when I realized the teams were unfairly matched and did jump rope and pick up sticks,

[MOMFUDSKI]

18. Tag.

Fond memories of running and hiding, totally out of breath, heart pounding, hoping to not be found. And then laughing SO hard when tagged. LOVED IT

[debm55]

25. I really liked tag also. TY for bringing back the memory,

[DURHAM D]

19. Punch the Icebox nt

[debm55]

38. The title said normal. NT

[appleannie1]

20. Menzies Clapsies Twirl around To backsies touch your eye Touch your nose Under your knee

touch your toes bounce the ball repeat them all --------------- It was a game we played bouncing a ball against a wall. We also played Eat the Peg. It was a game we played with a knife.

[debm55]

33. I think I played a game like that. It was on a wooden paddle with a long rubber band and a red ball at the end. I

stopped playing when I hit myself in the eye,

[appleannie1]

87. This was tossing a rubber ball against a wall, doing whatever trick and then catching the ball when it bounced back.

It progressed. For instance in the first round you would clap your hands and then touch your nose before catching the ball and when you completed that round the next thing would be to twirl around and touch your nose. And so on. If you missed, you were out and the next person would get a turn. You had to get through without a mistake before you moved on. We also played kick the can a lot. It was a form of hide and seek. We were always thinking up new ways to entertain ourselves and our house on the corner was the hangout place. My mom would tell people if all the neighborhood kids are on my porch and using my bathroom, I know where my kids are and what they are doing. Their mothers would just call on the telephone and say "Tell Billy his supper is ready". If Billy was not there, my mom would know where he was. There was a wall across the street where we played the Menzies. We lived on the very top of a hill and the street was flat in front of our house so most of the games were played there.

[debm55]

89. Thank you for explaining it to me. I don't think I every played.

[Laurelin]

112. We called our version of that game 7 Up

I loved it.

Also loved jumping rope.

[debm55]

113. Thsnk you Laurelin.

[yellowdogintexas]

118. I remember a similar game, played with a basketball.."Queenzies, Clapsies

Around The World, etc. Each phrase had its own movement I just remember the first bit, had not thought about it in years.

[jpak]

22. "Elevator"

We had an (excellent) native brook trout stream on our land that carved out a pretty spectacular wooded ravine.

A bunch of us would climb trees, bend them down, and launch my youngest brother into an apple orchard.

We also made spears out of saplings and go on 4-real bear hunt.

Bruin didn't have a chance

How we survived childhood was a mystery.

My poor Mom...

[woodsprite]

31. Horseshoes and Lawn Darts. nt

I was going to say Flashlight tag, but we've played that as a family up until we got a dog. It wasn't much fun after that because the dog would always try to hide with one of us , then hubby didn't quite adhere to the rules (couldn't use the stairs because I didn't want anyone falling). He'd pull himself up and over the loft railing in the den and nobody could find him because he was upstairs. He said he was perfectly in the rules because he didn't use the stairs to get up there.

[debm55]

34. I liked flashlilght tag, Thank you, woodsprite for your post.

[Cartoonist]

32. Softball

It was hard to get enough guys together to make up teams. I would be on the phone to my friends for many minutes. After high school it became increasingly difficult as one by one they would get married.

[debm55]

35. I never played softball. I did play whiffle ball with the plastic bats. TY

[malthaussen]

36. As a child, I mostly played "War" and "King of the Hill" and similar games

I'm much less violent now, don't play any of them.

-- Mal

[debm55]

45. I think most of the boys games were. the girsl did jacks, Jump rope and a game called Come over.

[malthaussen]

49. Yeah, there were mostly boys on my street. Co-ed games were hide n seek...

... and 1-2-3 Red Light, mostly.

-- Mal

[debm55]

67. Thank you Mal, I didn't like those two as they were rough.

[Backseat Driver]

41. "Simon Says"

[debm55]

46. I liked that game. Did you ever play Red Light, Green Light, Stop? ty.

[lpbk2713]

42. Various water games.

Lived on a lake as a teenager. Sometimes we would spend all afternoon in the water.
But that was long ago. Haven't been in anything but bath water for twenty years or so.

[debm55]

47. HAHAHAHAHAH So true.

[Mr.Bill]

44. Hide-and-go-seek was a very popular game in my neighborhood.

We used to play it for hours. Also street football was a big deal.

[debm55]

48. Loved Hide and Seek , I watched the football but didn't play. TY Mr. Bill

[Runningdawg]

51. Twister and jump rope. Fun but not safe - decorate the bull.

From horses, slap a piece of duct tape on the bull. Poor horses, they had no choice. We were so stupid.

[debm55]

66. I would have stuck with the twister and jump rope.

[spooky3]

52. Foursquare nt

[debm55]

68. LOVED

[yellowdogintexas]

116. yes! I first encountered it at the Methodist Youth Camp

which drew kids from all over the western half of Kentucky.
I think about my second year at camp, a four-square "court" had been taped out on the floor of the canteen.
We played endless hours of that game, all the counselors, lifeguards, etc participated.
Before you could bounce a ball, Methodist church rec halls had them taped out on the floor and we played endless rounds of it.

One of my favorite games; also a ton of really fond memories of my camp years.

[CanonRay]

53. Running bases

Using two bases and 3 players. One is the base runner and the other two throw the ball back and forth while the runner tries to steal the base.

[debm55]

69. I remember the guys playing that. I did play flip the cards. I group of us would take our baseball cards to school and

you would flip them against the school and fell on the cement. If your card landed on someone else's card, everyone yelled PICK
UP and kept the card, How many cards you card landed on is what you kept.My shining glory was having a heap of cards in the middle and when it was my turn I landed my card on it.The other players were boys, but my cards were just as valuable as a guys card.And you know what, there was no yelling, fighting, etc when you lost your cards.

[applegrove]

54. Capture the flag. I suppose I could have played

that paintball game as an adult but I hate guns.

[debm55]

70. I heard of it but never played.

[Niagara]

55. I had so much fun playing the following games:

Four Square

What Time Is It, Mr. Wolf? This YouTube has a slightly different game title called What's The Time, Mr. Wolf, but it's 100% the same game.

Head's Up 7UP or sometimes simply called 7UP

Horse. Of all the games I miss this one the most. I like the challenge and no one will play this game with me.

[debm55]

71. Girl , I taught for 42 years I won't tell you how many times my classes played these games. They were easy to learn,

hardly any prep And the kids loved them.

[OldBaldy1701E]

58. Spotlight.

We used to have epic versions of this. Sometimes, we had 20 kids playing. That makes the game last a long time though. We would get in maybe two sessions for the evening before we got called in. We would have boundaries but my group was keenly aware of the fact that there were three dimensions. Lots of fun.

We also used to play a version of 'hide and seek' where we expanded the area a lot and used walkie-talkies to try and zero in on the hidden. When addressed, one had to respond and one had to always be honest until the seeker was within ten feet of you. Then, you could try anything to maybe get them to look somewhere else.

[debm55]

72. I loved spotlight., The other game I never played.as I don't think any had walkie talkies. Thank you OldBaldy1701E

[OldBaldy1701E]

75. It was interesting.

We all lived in this neighborhood that was just outside of town. There were probably 12 houses there. One thing we kids asked Santa for every year was a set of walkie talkies. We always communicated with each other with them. Plus we used them to coordinate our mischief. We had to ask for a new set each year because the old ones usually never made it to the next Christmas.

[No Vested Interest]

60. Outdoors - vine swinging, War (during WWII).

Indoors: paper dolls. - cutting out their "clothes", dressing the paper dolls, etc.

[debm55]

73. I did paper dolls too, Do you notice that kids had fun by using simple, inexpensive things? And we had fun. and used our

Last edited Sat Feb 3, 2024, 12:08 PM - Edit history (1)

imaginations.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

62. Green light/Red Light n/t

[debm55]

65. I played that. It was fun.TY

[ProfessorGAC]

63. Most Any Sport

We lived near a huge city park so I was out with the other neighborhood kids playing baseball half the day, from age 6 or so.
I played basketball a lot, too. But, I played that in various leagues until I was 37, so I don't think that counts.
The only other thing I can think of is playing war, which nearly all the boys my age played.
A piece of picket fence was one's "gun". The one painted black was the machine gun. Everybody wanted that one!
I quit playing that when I started playing on teams in 5th grade.

[debm55]

74. Thank you ProfessorGAC.

[Ocelot II]

77. Tag variants.

Statue Tag: Whoever is It turns around while the other players try to tag them, but the players have to freeze in position when It looks at them; Poison Tag: if you got tagged by It outside a designated safe spot you became poison and joined It in trying to poison the other players.

[debm55]

90. Those are neat varients. We did Freeze and Defrost. it freezes a player and the player freezes in place until a player

tags them to defrost them without being tagged by it. and frozen. TY Ocelot II.

[Ocelot II]

91. We called that Frozen Tag - forgot about that one, thanks!

[yellowdogintexas]

117. I think we called it Frozen Statue. Variation: Swinging Statue

Basically one person would grab another's arm and swing them around and you had to freeze in place when you landed. If you fell or moved, you were "out"
It's a wonder we didn't all have dislocated elbows or wrists by the time we were 10

[LoisB]

79. Football.

[Polly Hennessey]

80. Kick the can, croquet, and badminton.

[debm55]

81. TY Polly, I played all three.

[Prairie_Seagull]

82. Loved marbles.

Simple and got to keep any you knocked out of the circle drawn in the dirt. Had a coffee can full of them. Cats eyes, Steelies...

Edit to add: Huge fan of teatherball is middle school.

[debm55]

85. I llove marbles too. You're right easy to play, no one gets hurt and you can win a stash of marbles.

[debm55]

86. Chinese Jump rope Anyone else play????????

[justaprogressive]

93. Charades

loved that game it was only time my entire family was happy...

[debm55]

95. I played it with my friends. My Family is never happy

[justaprogressive]

99. Neither was mine

20min doesn't really count

[Emile]

94. BB gun wars.

You had to wear several layers of clothes and no shooting at the head.

[debm55]

96. Wasn't that risky?

[justaprogressive]

100. You'll Put Your Eye Out!

$christmasstory

[Attilatheblond]

97. Tether ball and four square

Indoors: Races to drop clothes pins in milk bottles. You had to cross the room and drop the clothes pin in the bottle, carrying it with your knees. Great kids party game.

[debm55]

98. Agree. they sound great. TY

[FM123]

101. Hopscotch!

[debm55]

106. Yes. TY FM123. it was safe.

[yellowdogintexas]

119. Loved hopscotch! We did lots of that, and jump rope

I pretty much sucked at jump rope but loved hopscotch.

Anybody else play a version of hopscotch played in a square instead of the traditional linear one? I have a vague memory of that

[AllaN01Bear]

102. tether ball during recess. hopscotch during said same.

[debm55]

107. Agree .AllaN01Bear--TY. Two safe games.

[Goonch]

103. Half Ball

[debm55]

108. Thanks Goonch, I don;t think I played. Thank you for sharing your memory.

[dameatball]

109. Mumbledeepeg. Cuz I am slightly smarter than when I was 8. I think....maybe.

[sueh]

110. Jacks. I think it's time to brush up and teach my

great-grands to play.

[debm55]

115. Good! Thank you sueh

[yellowdogintexas]

120. I am going to mention this to my sisters! We all played it with each other

and our friend....and our mom who taught it to us to begin with. We all have kids with their own kids so they need to learn this

[sinkingfeeling]

111. Nobody's named Dodge Ball?

[debm55]

114. sinkingfeeling, In a way I liked dodge ball. I was small and a fast runner. so I made a hard target to hit HAHa.So I had

an advantage. Not so for our version of Red Rover, I also played basketball so I could move my feet around. TY for
mentioning the game I could play and played well.