Favorite Games As a Kid

fureverywhere

fureverywhere

beloved friend who will always be with us in spiri
Location
Northern NJ, USA
I suppose this starts as a rant. Have you walked through ToyRUs/ BabiesRUs anytime recently? Any toy department really. Everything from baby bouncy seats on up is electronic. I am fifty four and a baby here myself. But I still remember toys that didn't flash, or teach you numbers, stuffed animals that didn't say a word, board games that had cards but no batteries, no sounds, imagination required.

I dunno, will our grandbabies and great grandbabies be better prepared for the world? I suppose in the information age yes they will. But it's sad in a way. The first games and toys I remember are Candyland, Playdough, Lincoln Logs, even at my grand father's house...my grandmother was an expert seamstress. She left behind pickle jars full of buttons. I could amuse myself all afternoon sorting those buttons.

What do you remember?
 

Gosh, I remember playing outside all the time! We played "Dodge Ball". Swing the Statue". Red Rover" and lots of "Hop Scotch" (drawn in the dirt with rocks for tossing). I remember cutting paper dolls out of the Sears & Roebuck catalog for inside entertainment. And I loved "Tinker Toys"! You could build all kinds of cool stuff with them! Sadly, my grandkids are all about the electronics. Even the 5 year old knows how to use a Kindle for movies. But I bet she has no clue how to play "Hop Scotch"!
 
Really indeed...from maybe eight years to ten all the neighborhood kids played on a construction site behind our development. Maybe a few scrapped knees but nothing serious. Even on the playground at school...Keepaway, you got the ball and everyone would tackle you to get it back and other physical games. But hey we lived. I really believe we had it better...but who knows.
 

Yes, I played with buttons also. We use to get the Sears Catalog and Montgomery Wards Catalog. I would spend hours cutting out the figures and make my own paper dolls.. I would make a whole family,sometimes glue them on cardboard and make a house for them then make up stories about them. You would think I didn't have any toys but for some reason I loved doing that. Before there was Play Dough there was just plain clay. It came in colors and you had to be careful that they didn't get mixed or you would end up with ugly gray clay. When I was very young I liked the heavy cards with a picture on them. They had holes around the edge of the picture and you got shoe laces that you would put in the holes to finish the picture. And of course the View Master. Today's kids are really missing out in my mind. My Grand kids are very smart and are learning things in Kindergarten and first grade I never even heard of until years later but I think all the kids today are lacking in the imagination department. It is already imagined for them on the screens they are glued to.
 
Chinese jump rope, regular jump rope, jacks, many dressups and tea parties, we used to write and perform plays, card games, softball, riding bikes & much more that escapes me right now
 
We liked to play Monopoly and Sorry. Two friends had pool tables in their basements. Basements were cool in summer.
 
I remember playing outside a lot with my friends, hand ball, stoop ball, hit the stick, red light green light, jump rope/double dutch, roller skating (with key), bike riding, catch, etc. In the house I'd play with my older brother cowboys and indians, trains, my mother used to let us set a tent in the kitchen with some old sheets. Coloring, slinky, yo yos, etc. Too many things to list really. Never was and still ain't techy.
 
I have a younger sister and we had lots of fun and made up a lot of our games because we did not have lots of money but that didn't stop us having a good time.
We also set up a sheet over the kitchen table which then became a tent or a fort or a castle depending on the game we were playing.
TV arrived in Australia 1956 and we were allowed to watch 2 programs after school and of course they were in glorious black and white.
 
*bottom lip quivering*........the kids always wanted to play 'hide-and-go-seek' but they never would come look for me. :(

*wiping tears*........the memory is just soooo painfull.
 
I remember taking a mirror and holding it under my chin and walking around the house stepping over doorways, ceiling fans and light fixtures.. Try it.. It's just like walking on the ceiling.. I could amuse myself with that when it was too rainy or cold to play outside.
 
Another game we played especially when our cousins visited was to close all the doors along the passage (6 doors if memory serves) and try to go all the way along the passage without touching anyone. We would all usually end up in fits of laughter falling all over each other. A good time was had by all and it didn't cost anything. :D
 
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