I work in an after-school program at the moment, and was looking for some active group games, which got me thinking about the playground games I used to play as a kid. I imagine there are a number of games that are well known where I live, but unknown elsewhere. What are some games you remember from your own childhood.
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Lock and Key! I live in India, and this a very common game here. One kid among the group is assigned as the catcher, and his goal is to lock all other kids. All he has to do is chase and touch another kid, while screaming LOCK! Wait, the game doesn’t end here… The locked person has to squat/sit down at that spot. The most interesting part is - any other kid from the group can release the locked person! He has to touch the locked kid and shout KEY. Now the locked kid is released and he is free to move. So the job of the catcher is to keep an eye on all locked kids, while trying to lock other kids. The game ends when all kids are locked!
To add up more spice to the game, we had a cheat pass for the catcher. If he is not able to continue the game, or if he is tired of locking kids, he can go to a spot, squat, place his palm on his head, and shout TOMATO!! (Or any other silly word of your choice). All other kids (Both locked and unlocked) must immediately rush to the catcher’s spot place their palm on his head, and shout TOMATO (or the word the catcher shouted). The last one to reach him is the next catcher!!!
That sounds fun! I remember doing a similar one called scarecrow tag. When a person is tagged, they have to stand with their legs spread and to free them someone has to crawl through their legs.
Handball. Hitting a big red bouncy ball at full strength against a wall back and forth between partners-so satisfying!
A few come to mind. My favorite was 'Red Rover'. We also played 'TV Tag'. It's tag except if you crouch down and say the name of a show you can avoid becoming 'it'.
Then there's 'Spoons', a card game. But I must warn you, this game can get aggressive, at least in my family haha. You need a deck of cards, and 1 less spoon than people playing. So if you are playing with 4 people, you lay 3 spoons in the center of the table. Players take turns trying to collect a four-of-a-kind. Once someone does, everyone tries to grab a spoon. Without a spoon, you get a letter. If a player spells “S-P-O-O-N”, they’re out! The last player standing wins.
I have received and inflicted quite a few injuries lunging onto the table for a spoon before my brothers and sisters could. We'd all be pushing each other out of the way. We were vicious! Haha. Shoving, occasional elbow throw. The most ridiculous time I remember is when the last spoon was knocked off the table. It was down to me and my brother, so both our crazy a**es Dive onto the floor and are frantically scrambling for the last spoon. This game is not for the faint of heart! But it is fun! Haha
Haha, I love spoons. On a camp one time, we had no spoons so we used chess pawns instead, which led to the name p**n, or porn!
Marco Polo - The land variant!
One of my unforgettable games is this. It used to be a lottttt of fun. The catcher, called “Marco” stands in a corner with eyes closed and stretches both his hands. All the players, called “Polo”, stands near Marco and touches any of his palms. Every time the catcher shouts “Marco”, all players must reply with a big “Polo”. This may go on for any number of times. Suddenly, the Marco shouts “Start” and every polo starts to run for 10 seconds. After counting to ten, Marco opens his eyes and picks a Polo. This person has to stand in his place and all other people can move.
Now, the goal of our Marco is to reach his Polo in seven steps! He has to step on his Polo’s feet in his seventh step. But, this isn’t simple! He has to catch his polo in exactly seven steps, no less and no more. The polo can also do anything (jump, hop, distract), without moving from his position.
Mommy, Can I?
One of the players is Mommy. Mommy stands at the finish. The other players ask: Mommy, Can I?
If the Mommy says yes, the player then asks: What Can I? The Mommy then tells them what to do, such as walking a certain number of steps forward. Whoever touches Mommy first gets to be the next Mommy.
Where I lived in Victoria, Australia we played things like 40-40 (where everyone hides but a seeker, who has to try and catch people before they sneak into the base by saying '40-40 I see ... hiding behind the...), brandy (tag, where the tagger has a ball and they catch the next person by hitting them with the ball), blind man's bluff (tagger has to catch the others while blindfolded), grease-o (like 40-40 but the seeker has to physically catch people before they get to the base). I remember British bulldog everyone wanted to play, but was banned for being too violent, so I never learned how to play. There was also one called tv-tv, that I don't remember the rules of, but it had something to do with knowing the tv programs and guessing which was on at a particular time, but also included running?
