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Kids Games

Di.Poppitt

Di.Poppitt

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Did anybody ever play 'Cannon'? I only ever played it with our gang from Woodall and Norris Road.

We had four bits of firewood and stood them against a wall or fence, three upright and one across the top, and a tennis ball. We divided into two teams one 'in' the other fielding. Each in turn threw the ball at the cannon and as it smashed the team scattered and the fielders tried to hit you with the ball. When they got you you were out, and when you were all out the other side had their turn.

It was a really popular game, but always got us into trouble because the ball would often hit somebodys door or window, although we never actuallly broke a window.
 
Street Games

Thanks John for reminding me of how the game was played and scored. In the mists of time I had forgotten. I do remeber that if I hit the target it would be smashed and the wood flew everywhere - not the popular thing to do. :D
 
Street Games

My husband tells me that he and the boys in his street,Couchman road,would draw wickets ,with chalk,on the front of a neighbours house and play cricket often breaking windows.When this became boring they would tie string to letter boxes and run away.Nowadays they would probably be the subject of ASBOs.
 
Street Games

Funny you should mention this now. I have recently been trying to remember what the game was called. I loved it; used to play it down 'the Barracks' (the court at the back of 26 Guildford Street) and in the playground at Burbury Street School.
 
Street Games

We used to play "thunder and lightning" knock someones door and run .

And we played "Tig" (your' it ) A cruel version was with a tennis ball.

At school we played "polly on the mopstick" till it got banned ,
and "British bulldog"

And you could always call "arly barly" if you wanted out.
 
Street Games

Our cul de sac was built in 1934 and the pavement was of concrete flagstones, alternately two whole stones wide and One whole stone in the middle and a half either side. That was the ideal base for hopscotch.
We also had guessing games, one of which was "film stars" - one kid would give the initials of a film star, while the others stood in a line, every time they got a right guess they would make one step forward.
When we were in our early teens I can remember, especially in the evening after dusk, we would stand one either side of the pavement bending over. As a grown up approached us we we say "Mind the thread", and they would tread very carefully over the imaginary hazard.
Peter
 
Street Games

Yes Diana,
Remember very well the game of cannon,rounders,hopscotch,polly on the mop stick, jackstones, skimmers (with Cigarette cards) marbles along the gutters on the way to school,whip & top, and does anyone remember the cans of fire we used to swing around,with either coke ,or coal in the can,imagine doing that to-day
 
Street Games

Thanks for the link Chris. One game I had forgotten was Tag, we had hours of fun from such a simple game. When you were caught you were 'on'.

Another ball game was throwing two balls against a wall. The aim was to get better at it, and the first step was to be able to throw the ball over arm at intervals. You were really good if you managed to throw three balls. :D
 
Street Games

:D Di I have taught so many children here in NZ how to do the ball games you mention. The problem here is finding a large enough blank wall, as almost all the suitable (Houses) buildings are single story, have heaps of windows and weatherboards. My preschoolers love it when I just stand, or sit and juggle two balls in the air. They have seen clowns doing it with more than two objects, but feel they can manage to do it with two, we end up with balls everywhere it's lots of fun watching them try. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Christine :)
 
Street Games

Statues, yes, the name I do remember, but I'm not sure of the rules any more. Did the kids who were "on" have to face the others all the time, or did they turn away, and then suddenly tum round and catch anyone they saw moving?
Peter
 
GAMES

Kiss chase YUK!. One of those girly games like True, Dare,Promise, Forfeit, or summat like that. :twisted:.
Lads had much more sensible games like "Bags". This is where you would stand, looking in the toy shop window, taking it in turn to pick a toy,saying" I bags that one" Never cost a penny and not any shopping to carry home. :D
 
Street Games

With Statues, the one that was 'on' did face the other way. The others had to move forward without being caught moving
 
Street Games

On our road on the Erdington borders, we played Dare, Truth or Promise (in that order). I think that was another game where we could take a step forward if we scored. . . . . it's a long time ago now.
Peter
 
Re: Street Games

I think I remember playing 'Film Stars' Peter.

We certainly played 'L-O-N-D-O-N' John...

Also, 'What's The Time Mr. Wolf.'

the boys used to play marbles sometimes.
 
Re: Street Games

French Cricket don't know where the name came from, but the England Olympic Cricket team beat the French at Cricket :knuppel2: but they were the only two teams to enter. :2funny:

1900 I believe :-\
 
Re: Street Games

I use to play hop scotch out side our house, when i had finished my mum would wash the chalked squares away.
French skipping; Tie a long peice of elastic together, two of girls would stretch the elastic by putting the elastic at the back of their ankles and put some distance between them, so there was 2 lines of elastic in between the two girls, another girl would then twist and turn the elastic with her feet and try not to get tangled up as she tried to jump out. We use to play non stop in the play ground. The other game was British Bull Dog, it use to get very physical whilst trying to capture your mates, great fun.
Most of the girls including my self spent long periods of time, tucking our dresses into our knicker legs, so we could do hand stands up wall.
 
Kids Games.
This site is large now and its hard to know if you are covering topics that have already been talked about. With that in mind I hope I am not repeating something here.
When you were kids did you ever Bags anything. I remember after the war we would be walking up the street and, say, a neat car would go by and there would be a chorus of voices BAGS that car. I was first, no me, oh OK you get that one. A friend of mine Bagsed a neat new American car one day going up Alum Rock Road. A beauty. Dont
ask me the make I never knew but we often used to see it on Alum Rock Rd. and strange as it may seem I still remember the number GWD230. That was Daves car but I got an MG one time, cant remember the number though.
How about cigarette cards and the games we used to play with those. You could drop them flat faced vertically taking turns and, as soon as the last dropped card partially covered one on the ground, the dropper of that card got to scoop up the lot. Or you could skim them against a wall, a set number, and the closest to the wall won the lot.
Marbles was another game. You could play all the way to school along the gutter and if you hit the other players marble you got it, and the game would start again. The other one was toad in the hole. A somewhat different version of the American game of the same name. You dug a shallow hole in the dirt and paced of a starting line. From that line the players would aim for the hole with their marbles, and the closest would be the next player to go. He had to get his marble in the hole before he could aim at the opponents marble. If he hit a marble he got to keep it and carry on playing but he had to go back to the hole first. I got banned from the big tournament. Well, my marbles were all in good shape and every time I won one the opposition would dig down into his bag and pull out the grottiest marble you could imagine and offer that one up. Or worse still a GOB STOPPER. A scuffle broke out and I went home with a bruise on my head. But I slammed their gate and the latch fell off.
Regards.
 
DID ANYONE EVER PLAY STRETCH WITH A KNIFE .TWO PEOPLE STOOD OPP EACH OTHER THEN YOU ONE WOULD THROW THE KNIFE IN THE GROUND AND YOU HAD TO PUT YOUR FOOT THERE THEN THE OTHER PERSON HAD A GO THE YOU AGAIN UNTIL YOUR LEGS WERE WIDE APART AND LAST ONE STANDING UP WITHOUT FALLING OVER WAS THE WINNER .
JOHN
COULDN'T PLAY THAT ONE TODAY BUT FIFTY YEARS AGO A KNIFE SEEMED JUST LIKE A TOY
 
This is so interesting and like other threads brings back many memories.

I remember playing ' bags something' but it could be anything where there was not enough to go around the group. So the quickest ones got whatever it was by saying "bags I get it" or something like that. Skipping and hop scotch were always very popular at St Augustine's School, and also marbles and five stones. Do you remember that?

My kids had a similar game to five stone when they were young but it was purchased, in fact we might still have the game somewhere.

Playing ball up the school wall was also popular and we used to use two or three balls at a time and have different rhymes to play ball to. I am sure the kids today still play some of these games if the teachers or parents remember them. Maybe someone should write a book of 'Children's Games of the Last 100 Years'. :smitten: :smitten:
 
This picture is of kids playing in Lawford St recreation ground in 1928.
Note the number of older kids looking after the younger ones in their prams. O0
 
I am not going to say that picture takes me back as I am no where near that age.

But it is a nice picture and as you say the different age groups are there, as it used to be. :)

Probably the older ones had left school at 14 and did not yet have a job.

Now teenagers don't have a life even as I did leaving school at 15, as most of them have to stay on at school and work hard to get a job.
 
Postie, I love that picture and as Sakura said it,s a bit before my time but it does bring back memories. What a whopping slide in the background. You don't get them that big now councils are worried about being sued and such.
 
Reading about the games we all played brings back many happy memories, but a sign of the times, children today are always being told to get more exercise and not spend too much time on their computers etc., but only a couple of weeks ago in Halesowen some girls decided to play hopscotch and drew chalk grids on the pavement, some of the neighbours didn't like it and called the police, instead of ignoring the complaints, two officers went to the street and told them and their parents off as they were causing a nuisance, I really do feel sorry for kids today, whatever they do someone complains about them. It makes you wonder if the people who complained were ever children themselves.
 
That's a sad story Sylvia, whatever would we have done if we hadn't been allowed to play out in the street. It's a damning indictment on the community and the police. Had the girls been playing with a ball I could understand it, we were nuisances with balls, and always got moved off. We just went to another street. ::)
 
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