This was inspired by the Buckaroo thread in the gaming section, although I am thinking here more of street/playground games rather those of the indoor board variety.

I lived in a cul-de-sac alongside lots of families with children around my own age and we were lucky enough to have a square of grass (grandly referred to as 'The Green') in front of the houses where we could all play. I remember learning to ride my bike on that green, the bigger kids running alongside holding up the bike until I could balance it myself. I always wanted a chopper bike but never got one so had to be happy with having 'backies' round the green on the back of my friend Angela's. We played a lot of ball-games out there too, rounders and cricket were always popular and for two weeks every summer we developed an overwhelming interest in playing tennis, though this had to be played in the road and required us to have 'lookouts' who would bellow when a car came up the road. We also had lots of hay fields around us where we would go to make 'camps' out of the cut hay and climb the trees.

One of my most overriding memories of the school playground is a habit we had of walking around in a line shouting 'Who wants to play (insert whatever game?) NO boys! This lasted for the whole of the break time so that you had to start again next break, very rarely did we actually get to play the game we were supposedly recruiting for! Skipping games were high on the list too, as well as French skipping, involving lots of elastic bands threaded together to make a rope that two friends would be pressed into streching round their ankles so that you could jump and weave all sorts of complicated patterns in between them.

I'm sure there's loads more that I've forgotten.

What did you play?

Kiss chase!!

I also use to spend hours chucking a ball up against the back of the house singing little songs.

I used to have maggot races with my Dads maggots for fishing too

Oh I remember doing that french skipping to Voicey, didn't realise it was called that though.

At school I always remember British Bulldog being played.

At home me and my brother used to have a grand national style race with bouncee hoppers, I loved that.
And when it was that really hot summer in the late 70's I'll never forget getting the hose pipes out and having water fights over the fence with the kids next door:)

Run outs!

Anyone remember that? Was always better in the winter when it got dark early.

kick the bucket!

Basically you have one or two people who are "it"...and the rest run and hide. They try to catch you while you try to sneak closer to a bucket that is in a designated area....if any of the ones hiding can kick the bucket without getting tagged, then whoever is "it" loses...if they tag everyone without anyone getting to the bucket...then he/she/they win.

Also fort building was always fun. We used to get old scraps of wood and nails and build forts in the trees of the forest behind a friend's house. We made some pretty cool forts for being 8 or so at the time.

I too used to spend ages juggling two balls against the garage singing songs..which I am racking my brians trying to remember.

I grew up on a new estate where building was still going on so my playground was the site, used to make great dens out of the wooden roof timbers, the eldest in the gang got the middle biggest room. We used to go into the half built houses and collect the silver 'coins' from the plug sockets.

Also jumping from the scaffold onto piles of sand. But the best of all was waiting till the builders had finished smoothing off say a concrete drive....then running across it at top speed. There are a few drive ways were I used to live with my little foot prints on it!!

Other outdoor games, were clackers, Jacks and the infamous YoYo craze of the 70's.

:laugh:

Run outs!

Anyone remember that? Was always better in the winter when it got dark early.

I don't think I have ever heard of it.... what did you do?



I remember all the skipping games, it, clackers, marbles, jacks, yo-yo's and of course kiss chase :wub:

I always loved "Hide-and-go-seek" but used to take it too far and hide in the most bizzare places imaginable.

Also, at primary school, we used to play "Kiss, Cuddle or Torture". Basically, the girls used to chase us about the playground and if they caught us we had to choose our fate. A kiss meant a big smacker on the lips, a cuddle was just a cuddle and if you were brave enough to go for torture, they would beat the s*** out of you.
Ooh I remember the days of pretending to stumble just so the wonderful Rebecca Hilton would catch me and I would choose 'kiss' :wub:
It ended us being banned...

And occasionally I would play "Chappie" - the old rendition of chapping someones door then running away, until one day I was caught and marched home to my mum :ranting:

Ahh, to be young again :closedeye

Groucho what are 'run outs' please?

Blimey Cat, I remember those clacker things, they were blummin lethal. I had a pretty lilac pair, my Mum maintained however that you could 'Have someone's eye out' with them and I don't think they lasted long.

Ball games against a wall were also popular in our playground, names I remember are: 'Queenio, Queenio who's got the ball-io (I know, but I didn't invent the name!) and L.O.N.D.O.N We also played 'What's the time Mr Wolf' and varying forms of 'Tag'

Cat jumping off scaffold reminds me that we used to collect mown hay from the field and pile it up under the tree, then jump from the tree into it. How no one ever broke their legs I will never know!

We used to play a game of chase at middle school. A boy gang against a girl gang...who ever was caught was debagged..skirt or trousers. But the girls never lost it was always the blokes. It was great fun, very exciting untill one of the wimpy boys complained to mummy and we all had to see the headteacher, it got banned. Boo.

I remember catching thousands of sticklebacks in the stream.

Oh sweet nostalgia. :wave:

We used to call run-outs Tin Can Copper, if it's the one I'm thinking of.

One person is It, and they stand at a designated spot (usually a lampost in our street), they count to 100 and the others go hide. It then has to go find the others, if you get seen you're out, but you have to try to get back to the lampost without being spotted by It.

My favourite game was running across the neighbour's swimming pool when it had its cover on, I dont think anyone ever made it without getting soaked.

We used to call run-outs Tin Can Copper, if it's the one I'm thinking of.



The very same. :)

Hey, you werent that unpopular boy who pinched all the girls bums were you?

No dear, I dont think we ever played together when we were younger. :dry:

No dear, I dont think we ever played together when we were younger. :dry:


Is it just me or are your udders getting smaller?

I hope not :sad:

Is it just me or are your udders getting smaller?

I hope not :sad:

Hey - he might be on a diet!

Are run-outs the same as "Knock down Ginger"? A particular favourite of mine. Another favourite involved hiding in a tree at the edge of the road and chucking things down on people who walked underneath (conkers, bits of twig etc.).

Yes, I was a truly ghastly child.

We also spent many hours burning red ants with magnifiying glasses.

Pop..pop..pop

I remember playing British Bulldog .. a sort of very rough game of tig. And french skipping, jacks, and a vague memory of every one joining hands and one person putting thier hand against a wall, all others ducking under arms and singing "the big ship sails on the alley alley oh" till we all met in a cricle and then didn't know what to do ! Clackers was a big favourate til it was banned ( think I might of had a hand in that ). Conkers in the autumn, marbles with spiders being the ones to go for, and of course frogs and fishes which as far as I can remember consisted of chasing each other around and if you were caught outside one of the 'circles' marked on the playground you were allowed to beat the crap out of the 'fish' ..oh happy days eh lol !