Outdoor games
One of my nicest memories of childhood is playing games like freeze tag, statues, hide and seek, and hopscotch out on the sidewalk or, when we were more daring, in the street. One of my favorite games was something we called “Mexican Ring,” which involved making a large circle out of a hose or rope and trying to get in or out of the circle through ways I no longer remember. There were also short bouts of Red Rover, which we soon tired of after everyone’s wrists and arms got sore. The best times for playing outside were on summer nights when it was warm but not too hot, and the moonlight made everything seem so much more exciting. What kinds of games did you play outside? If you played hopscotch as a child, would you still remember how to play it today? If you have children, do they play outdoor games?
August 3rd, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Oh goodness yes! In my elementary school days recess and lunchtime were filled with absurd make believe games. I recall playing Star Wars with all of my male friends, though I had never seen the movies. At daycare we often played hula-hooping and hide-and-seek, along with the simpler tag and hopscotch. I still remember all of them…though I don’t know how I got by in Star Wars….I choose to believe I merely ran around wildly, waving my arms.
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:42 pm
This topic triggered a memory that hasn’t come up for years. At night we played something called “Great Ghost,” which I think was a form of hide and seek. The main idea was that the seeker would sort of moan “Great Ghost” in a really quavery and spooky voice, as they searched. I remember that that game got really scary, but was so much fun! Being scared was the best part.
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:24 pm
I also remember “Great Ghost” although I had forgotten about it for over forty years! My favorite games were the ones my siblings and I invented. We had a little hill in our backyard (between our house and the neighbor’s) and we would run up to the top and then go tearing down and jump onto the swingset (well, onto a swing, not the whole set) and we would swing higher and higher and higher. My sister and I particularly enjoyed this. The swing would represent some form of travel, like a spaceship, and when we stopped we would be in some kind of magical place (like Candyland). We would often travel with make believe friends. I remember the Three Stooges came along at least once. It seems like one of us had a crush on Moe. Or I could be embellishing. Anyway, those were good, good times.
August 6th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Before the (405) freeway came in, I lived next to large fields and the entire neighborhood would have “dirt clod” wars..you know the ones where you pull the grassy weed and a big clod of roots and dirt come with it? Anyway, I didn’t like it much, because I hated being dirty, but didn’t want to be the recipient of all the “clods” if I chose not to participate…guess that’s where I developed my fantastic “pitching” arm (although my accuracy stops at basketball!)
I guess I was more of the JUMP ROPE crowd and enjoyed enhancing my talents for “double dutch” and one-legged, etc……and I was the playground champion one year for most jumps without going out (where did all that physical talent go!?)….we did play hide-n-seek a lot, but Johnny Futrell always won (he’d usually go in the house and watch all of us combing the neighborhood for him!)….by the way, he ended up as the policeman standing over the dying bank robber from that horrible North Hollywood shootout years ago and was sued by the robber’s family and left the force and was the scapegoat for the department and went on Entertainment Tonight and became (sort of) famous.