What games did you play and enjoy a a child

[Brian Deakin]

Leading on from another similar thread what games do you remember playing as a child

A game I can remember in the UK was Blind man,s buff

This involved selecting an area of long grass about 5 yards square Clumps of long grass would then be tied at their end to form hoops to trip children over

One child would then be blindfolded and would try to catch the other children within the 5 yard square The children would tease the blindfolded child by touching him/her

The child blindfolded had to take care when moving or they would be tripped by the hoops as they tried to catch their friends

When the blindfolded child caught a friend they would have identity that child by touch alone The unblindfolded children would also be tripped as they ran round to avoid being caught
The blindfolded child would have a audible sounds to follow to catch children as they fell over but they themselves would move slowly because they could not see the hoops which would trip them

[Caspar Hauser]

When I was small, Conkers in their season, marbles in its, desktop cricket.

[Kev Williams]

Schoolyard games-- marbles were popular. And some of us 'men' even played jacks and hopscotch

And I was the undisputed champ at Red Rover. I was always the last man, and I could usually get thru the entire group 2 or 3 times before they could figure out how to stop me. In retrospect, I wish some football coach would've noticed, I'd have made one helluva running back...

[John K Jordan]

A game I can remember in the UK was Blind man,s buff

We played that in PA too. I broke my front tooth walking into a post on the grape arbor. Our rules were about the same but without that small a size limitation. If you could get your brother to fall in the river, fine. Hide-and-seek was popular. Marbles at school outside or inside at home.

JKJ

[Joe Tilson]

Kick the can was the best game we ever played. The whole neighborhood of kids played up until bed time. We even played in the winter. Must have been 20 to 30 of us at times. Man we had a great time.

[Steve Peterson]

We played a game called three times around. One person runs clockwise around a house and everyone else runs counter-clockwise. The object is to make it 3 trips around the house without the clockwise person seeing your feet move. If he catches you, then you have to start over. The first person to make 3 laps gets to be the clockwise person. You can run really fast about 1/3 to 1/2 way around and then you have to stop until he passes you and clears the next corner.

Steve

[Charlie Velasquez]

And I was the undisputed champ at Red Rover. ...

We played that (Blind Man's Bluff) in PA too. I broke my front tooth walking into a post on the grape arbor......JKJ

Put these two together because in grade school we were banned from playing Red Rover after the 2nd time someone got a broken arm.
Rough neighborhood we had.

[Brian Deakin]

Another game we played was called Releasio This was a form of hide and seak

The child would seek their friends and bring them back to a central point Then they would seek a next child

If any of the children could run back to the central point before the seeker, who also had to guard the caught children this would release all of the other children and the seeker would loose the game but have a score of how many children he had caught

The game would then be repeated and the child with the highest score would win

The game was best played as it became dark as you could simply lye on the grass and you became invisible in the poor light You could then run towards the central point to win the game or release friends

[Joe Tilson]

Brian,
That's how kick the can was played. While captured we told tales and poked fun at each other. Good way to get next to the girls.
I forgot to explain how the game was played.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

My brothers were very cynical. They played a game where I had to stand still and they would throw knives at my feet. If I flinched, I lost. As soon as it was my turn to be the thrower, they would find reason to end the game. It didn't take me long to stop playing that game.

Then there was snipe hunting. I learned my lesson in the knife game. They never got me to agree to going snipe hunting.

The other game we played was "dirt clod fights." We would get these hard red clay dirt clods and throw them at each other. They might as well have been rocks.

I'm really lucky to have lived past 10 years old.

[Patrick McCarthy]

Put these two together because in grade school we were banned from playing Red Rover after the 2nd time someone got a broken arm.
Rough neighborhood we had.

Yep, that was the cause of my broken elbow while playing at a Boy Scouts' meeting one evening . . . I ended up needing ORIF surgery , but he never got past me. Also the last time I remember any playing the game.

[Myk Rian]

We didn't have pool tables, so we played Carroms. I have a set from 1963.

[Dave Macy]

Tag was always my favorite but then the school banned it. Then kickball until they banned that too. Then 4 square until that was banned so in the end, most of my friends would just play on their phones or sit around and talk. That's why I got into other things. I'd take things apart, and sometimes couldn't get them back together, or sit there daydreaming.

[Brian Deakin]

Another game we played was called Stretch a variant on Malcolm's brother game

(1)Two children stand about a yard apart facing each other with their feet together
(2) One child throws a sheath knife into the ground to the side of the foot of their opponent
(3) If the knife sticks in the ground the opponent moves a foot to that position
(4) The other child then takes a turn
(5) The aim of the game is to make your opponent stretch their legs to form a splits position and ultimately fall over
(6) The child that falls over first looses
( 7) If you throw your Knife in the ground between the legs of the other child and it sticks in the ground ,you are can to your feet back together and the other child can move one foot to the position of the knife so their feet are also closer together

The law on knives in the Uk has been strengthened since I was a child see below

EG If you are under 18 and wanted to purchase a knife and fork you could only buy the fork the sale of the Knife is illegal and purchasing razor blades can be a problem

Selling, buying and carrying knives


The maximum penalty for an adult carrying a knife is 4 years in prison and an unlimited fine. You’ll get a prison sentence if you’re convicted of carrying a knife more than once.

Basic laws on knives

It is illegal to:

• sell a knife to anyone under 18 (16 to 18 year olds in Scotland can buy cutlery and kitchen knives) unless it’s a knife with a folding blade 3 inches long (7.62cm) or less
• carry a knife in public without good reason - unless it’s a knife with a folding blade 3 inches long (7.62cm) or less
• carry, buy or sell any type of banned knife
• use any knife in a threatening way (even a legal knife)

Lock knives are not classed as folding knives and are illegal to carry in public without good reason. Lock knives:

• have blades that can be locked and refolded only by pressing a button
• can include multi-tool knives - tools that also contain other devices such as a screwdriver or can opener

Banned knives and weapons

It is illegal to bring into the UK, sell, hire, lend or give anyone the following:

• butterfly knives (also known as ‘balisongs’) - a blade hidden inside a handle that splits in the middle
• disguised knives - a blade or sharp point hidden inside what looks like everyday objects such as a buckle, phone, brush or lipstick
• flick knives (also known as ‘switchblades’ or ‘automatic knives’) - a blade hidden inside a handle which shoots out when a button is pressed
• gravity knives
• stealth knives - a knife or spike not made from metal (except when used at home, for food or a toy)
• zombie knives - a knife with a cutting edge, a serrated edge and images or words suggesting it is used for violence
• swords, including samurai swords - a curved blade over 50cm (with some exceptions, such as antiques and swords made to traditional methods before 1954)
• sword-sticks - a hollow walking stick or cane containing a blade
• push daggers
• blowpipes (‘blow gun’)
• telescopic truncheons - extend automatically by pressing button or spring in the handle
• batons - straight, side-handled or friction-lock truncheons
• hollow kubotans - a cylinder-shaped keychain holding spikes
• shurikens (also known as ‘shaken’, ‘death stars’ or ‘throwing stars’)
• kusari-gama - a sickle attached to a rope, cord or wire
• kyoketsu-shoge - a hook-knife attached to a rope, cord or wire
• kusari (or ‘manrikigusari’) - a weight attached to a rope, cord, wire
• hand or foot-claws
• knuckledusters

This is not a complete list of banned knives and weapons. Contact your local police to check if a knife or weapon is illegal.
Good reasons for carrying a knife or weapon

Examples of good reasons to carry a knife or weapon in public can include:

• taking knives you use at work to and from work
• taking it to a gallery or museum to be exhibited
• if it’ll be used for theatre, film, television, historical reenactment or religious purposes, for example the kirpan some Sikhs carry
• if it’ll be used in a demonstration or to teach someone how to use it

A court will decide if you’ve got a good reason to carry a knife or a weapon if you’re charged with carrying it illegally.

Legal regulations for knife sales

The law prohibits the sale of any of the following items to people under 18 years of age:

• any knife
• knife blades
• razor blades
• axes
• any article that has a blade or is sharply pointed and which is made or adapted for use for causing injury to a person.

Unless it is:

• a folding pocket knife with a cutting edge not more than three inches long or
• a razor blade permanently enclosed in a cartridge or housing where less than 2mm of the blade is exposed.

Proof of age

• If you are not sure that a customer is over the age of 18, ask for proof of age
• If no proof of age can be produced, refuse the sale.

It is an offence to sell a knife to someone under 18 if:

• it is adapted in a way that suggests it is suitable for combat, or to otherwise encourage behaviour involving the use of the knife as a weapon
• it is made or adapted for causing injury
• it is a flick knife.

It is also an offence to market a knife which suggests it could be used as a weapon.
This applies to any sales of these items whether face to face, mail order, internet or other sales outlets.

[Garth Almgren]

Four square was always popular at my elementary school, as well as tetherball and wallball, which we played with small kickballs.
In 5th grade, my teacher gave us all stopwatches during recess and we would try and stop it at exactly 60.00 seconds (good way to keep kids busy for 10-15 minutes).