what games did you play when you were a child?

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

I was just thinking before the Internet, Playstations, Mobile phones and hundreds of TV Channels what games did you play when you were young. I'm talking both indoor and outdoor games.

Doctor Nick

Outdoor:
Paths
Hide and Seek
Rounders
The footy.
Chasing.
Kiss chasing

Indoor:
Board Games like Monopoly, Operation, Buckaroo

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Outdoors. Cowboys and Indians with bows and arrows make from branches in the woods beside us.

Indoors. Card games mostly.

La_Gordy

Kiss chasing.

Boom_Bap

Kick the Can
Rounders
Bull Dog
Kiss Chading
Bike Ball
Slow Bike Races
Red Rover
Simon Says

We were pretty much always outdoors.

Harambe

Played a lot of outdoor games:

Rounders - with a tennis ball and tennis racket.

Stuck in the mud - like a game of tag where you had to freeze when you were caught and could only be freed when someone crawled through your legs.

Bulldog - kinda like rugby, everyone had to link hands and people from the other side tried to barge through you.

Elastics - used to tie loads of elastics together and put them around our legs and do the whole 'England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, inside, outside, donkey's tails' thing.

Following - like a huge game of tag around the estate where you could also hide and when people got caught they joined the follower to catch everyone else.

Scamper - like hide and seek except the catcher had a base and if anyone reached that base and said a phrase (forget what it was) the catcher had to start again.

Kerbs - 2 people throw a ball across the road tried to hit the edge of a high kerb, we got so good at that we could easily get double kerbs with one throw!

So many more I could mention, god I had a great childhood.

Lovely Bloke

Soldiers, hide and seek, stuck in the mud, bulldog, chasing with a den, kick the can

football games like squares, halfway, ABC if there were girls involved, heads and volleys

played with figures, dinkies (I'm 37 and my 3 year old son now plays with my Hot Wheels Garage, those toys were built to last, make no mistake)

SEPT 23 1989

Outside: football,Various gun shooting games and Curbs

Indoor:Cards, snakes & ladders,Connect 4

H3llR4iser

Well, before Internet and Playstations where were Commodore 64s, Nintendos and SEGAs - videogames aren't anything new, they track back down to the late '70s.

The biggest difference was Internet access from home, there were no countless hours wasted crawling down the Youtube "suggestion" rabbit hole.

But keeping it to "non-electronic" games in my case it was LEGO in 1st place, followed by Transformers and Masters of The Universe. Outside, it was bicycle racing (an extremely dangerous form of it, come think about it - with all the other kids we made a "track" out of the buidling's boundaries, and you'd have this 20-kids-strong carousel zooming around for 50-60 laps at a time, regardless of people going in and out the buildings) and of course, being from Italy, football played in any shape or form - including on slopes, between parked cars, on concrete surfaces and so on.

osarusan

Apart from the usual games, there were a few we invented ourselves.

Keep Off the Floor -You had to stay off the floor while moving round the place with somebody chasing you. You got points for reaching different parts of the room, but lost points if you were caught while on the floor.

Ham Sandwiches - a card game invented while we were eating ham sandwiches. A bit similar to Lives, but different ways of playing the cards.

Rabies dog - We grabbed our dog and dragged him round the place, pretending he was a wild dog who had rabies and needed to be captured. This did indeed cause the dog to behave something like a wild dog who had rabies.

Coming Through the Gap - one-on-one football game. There was a gap in the row of trees to allow access between our house and shed. You started with the ball behind this line and advanced on the goalkeeper, who had to stay on his line until you came through the gap. You had to score, they had to save. You could keep it as long as you wanted but as soon as the keeper touched it, it was over (unless it went into the goals directly after that touch). Extra pride (but no points) for lobs and nutmegs.

In the car, we played games that involved guessing either the make of the car coming towards us, or what the diamond-shaped roadsigns (still a smudge in the distance) said. In retrospect, my parents probably came up with those the stop us getting bored and fighting. With places we went regularly, like Kilkee, it was a memory test as much as anything else, and even now, more than 20 years later, I have a good sense of what sign will be the next one on that road.

Manhunt. I think the rules were something like:

You were split into 2 teams. Both teams split up. One team came up with a word. Each person in the team was assigned a letter of the word. And then the other team had to hunt down members of the team with the letters and beat them up until they told them what their letter was. Once they had every letter and put them together to make the word they won. Or something like that.

We lived in a rough estate :pac:


We always played tip the can too. Also Bulldog. And I have memories of something called Red Rover, can't remember the rules though. Good times!

I can't really remember many indoor games. We were always outdoors. I used to play chess with my Dad and Battleship with my brother alright.

Your Face

Bulldog - such a brilliant game.

osarusan

osarusan wrote: »

Rabies dog - We grabbed our dog and dragged him round the place, pretending he was a wild dog who had rabies and needed to be captured. This did indeed cause the dog to behave something like a wild dog who had rabies.

:eek:

bluewizard

Cops & robbers
Poker

silverharp

we had a game in school called "kicking machine" 2 rows would turn to face each other and then everyone had to run the gauntlet, good times!

Lorelli!

Harambe wrote: »

Kerbs - 2 people throw a ball across the road tried to hit the edge of a high kerb, we got so good at that we could easily get double kerbs with one throw!.

Ye we played that

All the other ones like chasing, kick the can, skipping and maybe took part in a few knick knacks

We also played Stones for a while but I think we had more versions than this.

big syke

Lia_lia wrote: »

Manhunt. I think the rules were something like:

You were split into 2 teams. Both teams split up. One team came up with a word. Each person in the team was assigned a letter of the word. And then the other team had to hunt down members of the team with the letters and beat them up until they told them what their letter was. Once they had every letter and put them together to make the word they won. Or something like that.

We lived in a rough estate :pac:

We played that too except we called it IRA

Harambe

We played a lot of football as kids.

Regular matches were rare but used to love these, we'd organise our estate vs. the next estate, these were bloody battles but great fun and the bragging rights meant everything!
More common games were:

30 seconds - we used to play this on the road mostly and often used my mother's front gate as the goals, she hated us for that! Broke her windows more than once and the front door often got a battering. The game was the keeper had to count to 30, in that time the outfield players were trying to score but it had to be from a cross and the ball couldn't bounce. Majority of goals were headers but you could also take volleys from a certain distance out. When you score the keeper stays in and starts again. If the keeper gets to 30 seconds, last person to touch the ball is in!

World Cup - this was played on the grass, 1 keeper in goals and all outfield players against each other in a knockout. You score one goal you're through to the next round, last person left gets knocked out, eventually you get to the final with only 2 players left, first player to score 3 in the final is world cup champion. First person who was knocked out is in goals next time.

3 goals in - similar to world cup but played with less players. 1 keeper in goals and all outfield players against each other. First person to score 3 goals gets to choose who's in goals for the next game.

Then the usuals like piggy in the middle, keep ups, targets.

buried

We used to live near this huge old abandoned mansion in the woods, which was literally falling to bits and pieces so what we liked to do was play 'Indiana Jones' in the thing. Re-creating the opening set-piece from Raiders of the Lost Ark, or that the mansion was inhabited by a satanic cult who had stolen golden treasure that belonged in a museum. It was great craic, pure imagination enjoyment. Looking back now though, its a wonder one of us wasn't killed in the mouldy abandoned thing. The temple of doom was actually probably safer

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

La_Gordy wrote: »

Kiss chasing.

Kiss chasing was very popular when I was growing up. I remember there used to be one particular girl in our neighbourhood who used to hide in the same place hopeing to be caught. She was abit on the ugly side so we tended to advoid her. Looking back now it wasn't a nice thing to do.

osarusan

Lia_lia wrote: »

:eek:

Snapped at and bitten a good few times.

"I haven't a bit of sympathy for you' was my mother's response.

gramar

Football and hurling out in the garden, small goals, 3 goals in, headers and volleys.
Making bows and arrows, rubber guns, lighting fires, fishing, making ramps for cycling, kick out ball (tip the can), hike and seek, playing cards 25's, pontoon & poker.

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

Harambe wrote: »

We played a lot of football as kids.

Regular matches were rare but used to love these, we'd organise our estate vs. the next estate, these were bloody battles but great fun and the bragging rights meant everything!
More common games were:

30 seconds - we used to play this on the road mostly and often used my mother's front gate as the goals, she hated us for that! Broke her windows more than once and the front door often got a battering. The game was the keeper had to count to 30, in that time the outfield players were trying to score but it had to be from a cross and the ball couldn't bounce. Majority of goals were headers but you could also take volleys from a certain distance out. When you score the keeper stays in and starts again. If the keeper gets to 30 seconds, last person to touch the ball is in!

World Cup - this was played on the grass, 1 keeper in goals and all outfield players against each other in a knockout. You score one goal you're through to the next round, last person left gets knocked out, eventually you get to the final with only 2 players left, first player to score 3 in the final is world cup champion. First person who was knocked out is in goals next time.

3 goals in - similar to world cup but played with less players. 1 keeper in goals and all outfield players against each other. First person to score 3 goals gets to choose who's in goals for the next game.

Then the usuals like piggy in the middle, keep ups, targets.

3 goals in I remember that well. After watching the FA Cup Final on RTE we would all meet up in the local playground and play 3 goals in. I wasn't very good so I was the goalkeeper most of the time.

Riesen_Meal

big syke wrote: »

We played that too except we called it IRA

We called it catch and bash...

Wouldn't be getting away with that nowadays....

Harambe

Fieldog wrote: »

We called it catch and bash...

Wouldn't be getting away with that nowadays....

We called that one looney! Except there was no letters, just literally beatings and the chasers were allowed to have sticks, mental when I think back on it. :eek:

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

Knock Door Run was another game we used to play. One of us would knock at a neighbours door and then leg it. There was one particular neighbour who would follow you to the end of the earth until he caught you. If he caught you he would give you a clip round the ear. He wouln'd get away with it now.

Harambe

Madelynn Green Biker wrote: »

Knock Door Run was another game we used to play. One of us would knock at a neighbours door and then leg it. There was one particular neighbour who would follow you to the end of the earth until he caught you. If he caught you he would give you a clip round the ear. He wouln'd get away with it now.

How could I forget knock & run haha

big syke

Harambe wrote: »

How could I forget knock & run haha

Knick Knacks!

Harambe

big syke wrote: »

Knick Knacks!

My Dublin fiancee also calls it that.
We called it knock and run or knockadally

callaway92

Your Face wrote: »

Bulldog - such a brilliant game.

What was this again? I remember the name and would've played it but can't remember what it was.

Harambe

callaway92 wrote: »

What was this again? I remember the name and would've played it but can't remember what it was.

I described it in my first post here but different areas could have had different rules.

gramar

callaway92 wrote: »

What was this again? I remember the name and would've played it but can't remember what it was.

In our school there was one in the middle with everyone else running from one end of the yard to the other and the one in the middle had to try and tag them and then they had to tag the others until every was and you started over with whoever was tagged last going in the middle.

Your Face

gramar wrote: »

In our school there was one in the middle with everyone else running from one end of the yard to the other and the one in the middle had to try and tag them and then they had to tag the others until every was and you started over with whoever was tagged last going in the middle.

That was it.
In our variation, the ones who were 'on' had to catch and hold the runners for a three count.

con___manx1

Knick nacking
Man hunt
Donkey
Headers and volleys
Knockouts

Parchment

Knock a Dolly
45 (fancier hide and seek)
Rounders
Hide and seek
Red Rover (violent)



and..... Mc Donalds: we were bog children so pretended we worked in McDonalds. A field was our Mc Donalds with dock leaves being our hats and also burgers. Bizzare.

MonkieSocks

Cops N' Robbers

Cowboys and Injuns

Red Rover

Hop Scotch

Handball

Football

Slow Bike Race

Marbles.......nearest the wall

Knick Knack

Kiss Chasing

Spin The Bottle

Scuting on the Coal Trucks to nick some free Coal

suicide_circus

Hide the Sausage
Soggy Biscuit

callaway92

gramar wrote: »

In our school there was one in the middle with everyone else running from one end of the yard to the other and the one in the middle had to try and tag them and then they had to tag the others until every was and you started over with whoever was tagged last going in the middle.

Ah yes, that's it, cheers.

Ping Chow Chi

Other than the usual...
We had a building site near us for a couple of years while they made a new estate - we use to play all manor of games there.  The number of injuries we got were horrific though. 
We also spent a hell of a lot of time getting concors, yet we hardly ever played concors (Im not sure what we did with them now)
Building dens (that usually lasted less time than we spent constructing them)
Climing - I remember a lot and a lot of climing, trees, buildings, anything tall really.

Mr.Plough

Curbs

Sneakdog (can't remember where the name came from) - Everyone has 3 lives, keeper has 5. Miss or the keeper catches without bouncing you go in nets. Score and keeper loses a life. First one to lose all lives has to stand in goals while everyone takes turns drilling shots at their arse from the penalty spot.

Winterlong

Outdoors: Football.
Indoors: Football and a game called 'blame the sister for the broken vase/window.'

diomed

Marbles, all varieties of games, including trying to put them into a small mud hole.
Soccer in the street. There were no cars. We bought a plastic ball. You could only play if you had contributed. If it burst we heated up a ring on the cooker, heated a knife, and did plastic surgery. We were plastic surgeons before Holywood copied us.
"Three and in" was a favourite soccer game. Score three goals and you would be goalkeeper. The goal was our gate.
Tennis in the street. This seemed to break out after Wimbledon for some reason.
Rounders. There was a ring in our road with a metal electric pole in the footpath painted black for the bottom couple of feet, and it was an ideal wicket.
All sorts of stuff in the fields behind the houses, cowboys and indians, gangs, climbing chestnut trees to the very top and looking down on the houses.
In winter filling milk bottles with water and pouring it on the footpath outside the house late at night when it was freezing. It was a brilliant slide next morning.
"Helping" the milkman. We would be out in the summer at about 7 am offering to deliver milk to houses. It think it made us feel like we could do adult work.
Bicycle races, fast and slow races. And bicycle trips. We once cycled from Blackrock to Greystones.

nibtrix

Pitch and Toss, or pitching pennies, or it had various different names.
We each threw a 2p coin towards a wall in turns, whoever got theirs to land closest to the wall was the winner, and took the coins. Sometimes there was a rule that the coin had to hit the wall, so there was a good bit of finesse involved to make sure it didn't bounce back too far!


Football or tennis against a high wall, taking turns to hit shots. Guaranteed to drive the owner of the wall nuts as you had to go and ask for your ball back multiple times in a short space of time!


Building huts or dens in various places - carving out spaces inside thick bramble hedges; using pallets and "borrowed" building supplies on patches of wasteland etc.

JillyQ

I grew up on a estate where our social life as kids revolved around our green. We used to play
Tig
Hide & seek
Bulldog
Rounders
Relays
Hop scotch
Cowboys and Indians
Football

The boys used to build there own go karts and of course us girls wanted a go at racing down the hill on them as well

Rounders
Tennis
An advanced form of The Floor Is Lava called The Grass Is Lava.

My cousin and I invented a game called Concussion, involving a SwingBall (those poles with a tennis ball on a string) where we would try to hit the ball so hard into one anothers head that it would result in the eponymous Concussion. The game in its early form was abandoned after I gave him a nosebleed and he gave me the headstaggers.

Boglin Tornado was another one, where one of us would hide at the top of the stairs and 'surprise' the other by pelting my collection of Boglins on the others head as they tried to get up the stairs. I had hundreds.

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

Konkers was another game we played . This was played mostly in the Autumn as we would go collecting chessnuts to play the game. What we would do is punch a hole in the chessnut put a string in through it and tie a knot at the end so that the string would stay on. You would swing the chessnuts at each other and which ever one smashed lost the game. Thinking about it know it was quiet dangerous.

gramar

Madelynn Green Biker wrote: »

Konkers was another game we played . This was played mostly in the Autumn as we would go collecting chessnuts to play the game. What we would do is punch a hole in the chessnut put a string in through it and tie a knot at the end so that the string would stay on. You would swing the chessnuts at each other and which ever one smashed lost the game. Thinking about it know it was quiet dangerous.

Ah yes...chessnuts...people crazy about chess!

fussyonion

Knick knack. We got good at it and tied dental floss to the knocker of the door and ran away to hide, clutching the other end of the floss.
No end of fun pulling the knocker and the grumpiest man in the house was opening the door every minute.

Ball against the wall: you played two tennis balls against the wall of a house, singing tunes such as 'Archie Balls', 'Chocolate biscuits down the lane', 'Please keep off the grass JR, to let SueEllen pass, JR, SueEllen's got a gun JR to shoot you up the bum JR', 'Chips for dinner, chips for tea, chips for all the family'.

Rounders, paths, IRA, Red Rover, Hide n Seek and Tip the Can.

Lorelli!

Madelynn Green Biker wrote: »

Konkers was another game we played . This was played mostly in the Autumn as we would go collecting chessnuts to play the game. What we would do is punch a hole in the chessnut put a string in through it and tie a knot at the end so that the string would stay on. You would swing the chessnuts at each other and which ever one smashed lost the game. Thinking about it know it was quiet dangerous.

Ye i remember my mam telling me about Clackers or Knockers that were a banned toy in 1985 which were very like Konkers.

http://www.burlingamepezmuseum.com/bannedtoy/

My cousins lived near a Konker tree that had a swing. We also made a swing near where I grew up and I remember this lad that had a very low voice would always let out a really high pitched scream that was so unexpected whenever he was pushed on the swing. It makes me laugh even thinking of it

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

Another game we played was a game called Queeno. One of us would have a ball the size of a tennis ball we would turn our back to the other 6 or sometimes 8 people. We would throw the ball over our heads and you would have to guess who caught the ball. Before throwing the ball I would say Queeno, Queeno who has the ball is he big or is she small and then you would name the person who you think caught the ball. Whoever caught the ball would take their turn and you would have to go back and join the group.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Used to go up the fields and trespass onto farmers properties.

We'd have to sneak through the yard and touch the farmhouse back or front door without being seen.

Got caught eventually, started taking more and more risks and became sloppy. Ended up receiving a stern lecture from an authority figure.