Games that gave us the time of our lives
Gaming kids had the time of their lives yesterday – and there wasn’t a Pokemon in sight. Instead the youngsters – and their parents and grandparents – were enjoying a selection of traditional street games as part of Bearsden Festival, near Glasgow. The hope is that the games will catch on with a new generation and it’ll become a retro revival. Bill Gibb and Tracey Bryce have created a guide to enjoying the fun with your own family...
Tig
WHAT IS IT? A chase-and-catch game popular in the playground, park, garden… anywhere really.
HOW DO YOU PLAY IT? Requires two or more players. One person is “it” and needs to chase and catch the other players who try to run away. Involves lots of running and screaming. When another player is “tigged’, they then become “it” and have to chase the other players. It could go on for minutes – or hours!
Hula hoops
WHAT IS IT? Although kids have played with hoops throughout the ages, the modern plastic hoop was invented in the 1950s. They became a kids’ craze in the ’60s with the factory behind the marketing churning out 20,000-a-day.
HOW DO YOU PLAY IT? The basic aim is to try and whirl the hoop, usually round the waist but also the arm or leg, as often as possible with it falling.
Skipping
WHAT IS IT? A jumping game believed to have originated when rope-makers were forced to jump over strands of hemp as they twisted them together.
HOW DO YOU PLAY IT? Either skip solo by swinging a rope over your head and jumping over it or play as a group. Two people “caw” at either side and one or more people “jump in”. Faster speeds, songs and more ropes make it more advanced.
Rounders
WHAT IS IT? A team bat-and-ball game. HOW DO YOU PLAY IT? One team “bats” while the other team “fields” and “bowls”. The bowler bowls to the batter who hits it. The batter then runs to as many posts as possible before the fielders return the ball to touch the post the batter is heading for. If the batter reaches the home post again in one hit, the batting team scores a “rounder”.
Marbles
WHAT IS IT? Small balls usually made either of coloured glass or of metal. Examples have been found dating back many thousands of years but they really took off with 19th Century mass production.
HOW DO YOU PLAY IT? You nudge your marble along the ground with your thumb to knock out other marbles from a target ring, keeping the marbles knocked out. The winner has most at the end.
Kerby
WHAT IS IT? Literally a street, or at least pavement, game.
HOW DO YOU PLAY IT? Stand on opposite sides of a quiet street. Player one throws the ball, attempting to make it bounce off the opposing kerb. He then moves to the middle of the road and tries again for lesser points. Player two repeats. The game ends when one player reaches 50 points – or you get called in for your tea.
kick the can
WHAT IS IT? A fast-paced variation of hide-and-seek. HOW DO YOU PLAY IT? Place the empty can in an open area and choose who will be “it”. Designate a spot to be the “jail”. “It” counts while the others hide, then tries to find them. When “it” sees a player, both race to kick the can first. If it’s “it”, the player goes to “jail”. If it’s the player, all prisoners in jail are freed.
Hopscotch
WHAT IS IT? It’s the game of many names, from peever to paldy, lallies or beddies depending on what part of the country you’re from. It’s a simple grid-like frame often just chalked on to a school playground. HOW DO YOU PLAY IT? You kick the peever, which can be a flattish can or smooth rock, from one numbered square to another as you hop, trying to keep your balance as you go.
Gird and cleek
WHAT IS IT? Victorians loved the gird and cleek and its popularity survived past the Second World War. The gird is a steel hoop and the cleek is the handle.
HOW DO YOU PLAY IT? The idea is to run alongside the gird, keeping it upright and rolling along with the cleek. The old Victorian girds had the cleek attached via a ring – keeping hold of it without is even harder.
Skittles
WHAT IS IT? A version of bowling which dates back 5000 years. Ten-pin bowling is just one game descended from it. Kids’ versions were often cheap colourful plastic skittles and ball.
HOW DO YOU PLAY IT? Try to knock down as many skittles as possible in one or more throws of the ball. One way of playing it involves always having to take out the front skittle to score.