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Author Topic: Games you played as a kid
Hank
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I was talking to a friend about games we played when we were little, and I realized that I couldn't remember the rules to "Heads-up/7-Up". I wished I could ask someone, and wondered what other games I was forgetting. This is a thread for people to write instructions for games they loved and reminisce about why.

I'll start:

My neighborhood was big into hide and seek, and our rules were very strict. "It" had to stand with their face pressed against Base (which was always something vertical, like a porch pillar or support for a swing set) and count to 25. They had to simultaneously defend base and seek out those who were hiding. Those who were hiding were trying to avoid being caught and sneak back to base without being tagged. Once you touched Base, you couldn't let go until the game was over (this is where the vertical part came in handy). The game ended when every Hider had either been tagged or was touching Base. It for the next game was either the first person tagged or, if no one had been tagged, the same poor kid who was it the last time around.

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TL
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Almost every day before school we used to play a game we called POMP

One kid stands in the middle of the field and yells "Pomp" and then everybody runs from one side of the field to the other, with the kid in the middle trying to tackle somebody. If you get tackled, you join his team (or whatever) and then you're in the middle as well. He yells "Pomp" again, and now the both of you try to tackle the kids running from one side of the field to the other.

Eventually there are fewer and fewer kids running across, and more and more kids trying to tackle them.

The last one standing "wins" and he has to be in the middle at the beginning of the next game.

I always thought it was kind of a sucky reward; I didn't want to be the kid who starts the game out in the middle. A better reward should be: If you win, you get to pick the kid who starts out in the middle. (Or something. I dunno....)

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Samprimary
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"run from the mexicans"

somehow I wish I were joking.

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Lisa
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Four square. And two square.
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Fyfe
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Oh my God, Heads Up/7 Up. I completely forgot about that game. I was brilliant at guessing who had put my thumb down. BRILLIANT I SAY.

On the other hand, Red Rover was the bane of my existence. I was the smallest girl in the class, and I also didn't see why I should allow the most enormous boys in the class to suspend themselves on my arms and sprain my wrists, so I would let go almost immediately. I used to go back and forth between teams like a Ping-Pong ball. Ugh.

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Xann.
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Heads up/7-up was that a group puts there heads down, and sticks up there thumbs. After that the group of seven go around and touch 7 peoples thumbs. Once they are all done they say "heads up 7 up" and the people whos thumbs were touched stand up. They then try to guess who touched them, if they get it right they get to take their place as a thumb toucher.
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Jhai
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Four Corners - a game for the classroom on rainy days. One person sits in a desk in the very middle of the room and closes their eyes & puts their head down, and all the other students stand on the edges of the classroom. Then, on command, everyone except the person in the middle move to one of the four corners of the room. After a suitable moving period, the person in the middle picks the corner which he thinks has the most students, and then everyone in that corner has to come and sit down. The rest of the students then have a chance to move on to another corner, and play continues until there's only one person left that the student in the middle hasn't caught. That person the comes to the middle of the classroom, and everyone is back in the game.

Kick the Can - like hide-and-seek as Hank describes it above, but the person who's It needs to guard a can. If he sees someone he runs back to the can and announces where the person is hiding, at which time the person has to come out of hiding and sit by the can. However, other players can sneak around behind the person who is It, and kick the can, freeing everyone who's currently been caught. You have a chance to run away and hide, since the person who is It has to go grab the can, return it to its spot, and count to ten.

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PSI Teleport
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Fyfe: you took my sentiments about Red Rover right out of my mouth. I hated that game with the fire of a thousand suns. I also hated Heads-Up/7-Up because the same darn fourteen people switched back and forth. And, of course, girls were teased if they picked a boy, and all of my friends were boys. And the boys that I felt sure would pick me in a more neutral environment passed me over for the same reason. ARGH.

There was "Doggy, Where's my bone" which had one child sitting at the front of the class with their eyes closed, protecting a rawhide bone. The teacher would pick one kid to come up and take it, and then the kid in front would have three chances to guess who had it. I liked this game much better because anyone could be chosen, independent of sex/status as a nerd, and it actually required skill to guess who had it. You had to carefully judge people's reactions when you looked them in the eye.

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The Pixiest
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Ghosts Are Out Tonight -

Hide and Seek, except everyone who got tagged became a deputy "It."

I didn't like this one as much as the other kids because each cycle went too long. I preferred Hide and Seek where the first person tagged became the next It.

...

So... Did anyone allow "Electric Wires?"

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BlackBlade
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Midnight Football: You played it indoors and you had to run around on your knees, (man I'd almost forgotten how bad the rug burns were) the ball started in the middle of the room and then the lights went out and you had to find the ball and get to the other side. When one side scored, the lights would go back on, the other team would get the ball, lights off, begin again.

Zorch: Played on a hill at night, preferably one with plenty of trees, rocks, and ditches leading up to it. The person who is it waits at the top of the hill with a flashlight. The rest of the players systematically climb the hill trying to reach the man with the flashlight. If you are beamed at with the flashlight and your name is called out you go back to the bottom of the hill. Person who reaches the top of the hill becomes the man with the light.

Suicide: Similar to wall ball, all the players take turns throwing the tennis ball at the wall. As the ball bounces back somebody has to catch it and throw it again. If you fumble with the ball and it hits the ground you have to sprint for the wall and touch it with your hands, while the other players scramble for the ball and attempt to hit the wall with it before the runner reaches it. If the runner makes the wall first he is safe, if the ball hits first the runner turns his back to the other players and faces the wall. The players all get to throw the tennis ball one time at the person as hard as they please.

Sounds horrible I know, well it really is. Occasionally people miss when they throw the ball at you, and SOMETIMES players take pity on you and just lob it.

edit: I couldn't leave this last one out.

Sardines: A variation on hide and seek except that the person who was "it" had to run and hide. The rest of the players then had to seek out that one person. If you found the person who was "it" you had to hide with them, but you had to be discreet about it so that it wouldn't be obvious where "it" was. Throughout the course of the round people suddenly start to disappear, the last person to find the people all hiding with the person who is "it" now becomes the one to go hide. I played Sardines at my church once which was an old Victorian style mansion in Hong Kong. Best place ever for a game of Sardines.

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maui babe
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In kindergarten we played a game called "Doggie, where's your bone?" The class would sit in a circle around a chair and one person would sit in the chair with closed eyes. There was a chalkboard eraser under the chair.

The teacher would point at one child in the circle, who would take the eraser from under the chair. Then the class would chant "doggie, doggie, where's your bone? Somebody stole it from your home." And the person who took the "bone" would say something at this point; I don't recall exactly, but one short sentence so the "doggie" would hear his voice, and have to guess who stole the bone.

I was the undisputed champion of this game, and always recognized everyone's voice without opening my eyes or turning around. This game was my first experience with "dumb blondes" (although they weren't all blonde). The cute little girls would turn around and spend 5 minutes giggling and looking at everyone in the circle and would NEVER guess right. I thought they HAD to be putting us all on, because it was obvious to the most casual observer that it was Nathan or Lori (or whoever).

ETA: okay, I just read the rest of the responses and saw that PSI also played this game. I actually did enjoy playing it, but did not get the other girls' silliness about it.

I moved away from that school after kindergarten and never saw any of those girls again, but I've always imagined them as the flirty/popular/cheerleader types who could bat their eyes and get whatever they wanted. I'm sure that says a whole lot more about me than about them, but there it is.

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PSI Teleport
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Oh, right, maui babe. I forgot about the person having to say something so their voice could be recognized. And we used the eraser sometimes too. (Argh, what was the rest of the phrase??? I think part went, "Guess who? It might be you! It might be *mumble mumble* in your shoe!" Then the thief would talk.)

And I'm seconding "Suicide". I loved that game.

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Nighthawk
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Adventure
Zork
Ultima III
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord


... you seriously thought I played OUTDOORS?!?

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ambyr
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Red Rover was banned at my elementary school after a couple kids broke their arms playing it.

Good riddance.

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BlackBlade
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quote:
And I'm seconding "Suicide". I loved that game.
I loved it too, until I had to stand there unable to tell when the ball was going to come, dreading the terrible sting that might or might not come. Never sure which I hated more misses or hits. Misses ended the terrible tension with a startling loud thump, but that also meant the next person was more than likely going to try and hit you as well, and be more careful about not missing.

Hits on the other hand stung terribly, but again the next person might not throw quite as hard if you make a loud fuss and give everyone something to laugh about.

Did you ever play with the optional rule that anybody in front of the person who catches the ball can be spontaneously thrown at?

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The Rabbit
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quote:
Sardines: A variation on hide and seek except that the person who was "it" had to run and hide. The rest of the players then had to seek out that one person. If you found the person who was "it" you had to hide with them, but you had to be discreet about it so that it wouldn't be obvious where "it" was. Throughout the course of the round people suddenly start to disappear, the last person to find the people all hiding with the person who is "it" now becomes the one to go hide. I played Sardines at my church once which was an old Victorian style mansion in Hong Kong. Best place ever for a game of Sardines.
I loved this game too. We usually played in the summer outside after sunset. It was great in a big yard with lots of bushes, trees and stuff.
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ricree101
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We used to play a lot of capture the flag when I was a kid. There was a small woods in the middle of the neighborhood I grew up in, and it was just big and overgrown enough to be an almost ideal spot for the number of people we had.

Other than that, we played a lot of tag, a game called "Ghosts in the Graveyard" (basically hide and go seek under a different name), and cops and robbers.

Also for a couple years some of us had these little plastic crossbows that shot small rubber tipped darts, so we would play a game we called assassin. Basically, it was one on one, each player had three darts on them, and one player would be given a small amount of time to go hide before the other came after him. The winner was the first person who shot the other.

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Traceria
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Oh yeah, Sardines was awesome.

We also played the stop light game a lot. I can't remember particularly loving that one, but it was alright.

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dabbler
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There's one that's like... wizards, giants, and one other type. Gnomes? It's a group game of rock-paper-scissors. Anyone else know the specifics? Two groups face each other. Each group secretly decides to be one of the three types. Wizards waggle their hands out in front shooting lightning bolts. Giants raise their hands over their heads, and I think gnomes squatted? Then you had to quickly decide and run away if you were the losing side.
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Fyfe
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That sounds vaguely familiar actually...

My sisters and I also had a lot of slightly insane games that we played in the front yard. My little sister and I used to play a game where she was a doting mother, and I was a wicked thief and kidnapper, and essentially I would ask to hold her doll (baby) and then run off with the baby. Or steal the baby's expensive designer clothes. Or both. Mainly just an excuse for us to run around shrieking. And we also played hurricane a lot, where we had to collect supplies and huddle in a blanketed fort conserving rations until we starved to death or the hurricane ended.

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Sala
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Red Light, Green Light. Everyone lines up on one side of the room or behind a line or whatever, with one person (IT) on the other side. IT has his back to the group and says Green Light. At green light everyone moves toward the one. Then he says red light and turns around. Everyone has to freeze on red light but if you move then IT can call your name and you have to go back to the beginning line. The object was to get to IT and tag him first, then you became IT.
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Artemisia Tridentata
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In my childhood, War was the big game. All the kids at school had wooden or metal play guns, Every recess we would dash for the far corner of the school yard, where there was a huge fireplace/barbaque. The chimney was field stone about 20 feet tall, and there was a stepped wall running out 20 or 30 feet on each side. The side that got the chimney first was the Americans, everyone else were the Germans, Japs, or Commies it changed all the time. The rest of the recess was all "Bang, I shot you", "No, you missed by a mile", etc. until the bell rang. WE all kept our guns under the coat hangers in the hall. My dad had made me a super one out of 1x board that had the silhouette of an M1. No one got away with "no, you missed" with me.
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Mike
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Four-square was one of my favorites.
Kickball
Capture the flag
Manhunt (like a really unbalanced capture the flag with no flags)
Off the wall, possibly an exclusive of my elementary school

Edit: did anyone ever play Calvinball? I think I tried once or twice.

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maui babe
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We played a game we called "movie-star hopscotch". We'd make a grid of squares (usually 5x5 or 6x6)on the sidewalk or porch with chalk. Someone would choose a square, and write the initials of a movie star in it. We were pretty liberal with the definition of movie stars, and included singers, cartoon & book characters and other celebrities as well. Then we would play a guessing game to figure out who the movie star was.

The next person would have to jump from square to square, naming all of the names as they were added. I think we had to skip over empty squares, so until the grid got filled in, it was a bit of a challenge. Then the next player would choose a square and a celebrity and the game continued.

I don't think there was ever a winner to this game, but just a way to pass the time.

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Hank
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Wow, these all sounds really fun. I need to make some friends under the age of 10. Thanks for the definition of heads up/7 up. What were the rules for 4-square? I remember playing in 1st grade, but the school I moved to after that didn't have a paved playground or kickballs available.

Another thing occurred to me. What are some of the chants associated with games. I remember jumproping to:
Cinderella
Dressed in Yellow
Went upstairs to kiss a fellow
Made a mistake and kissed a snake.
How many doctors did it take?
Followed by counting until you missed a step.

I also remember a game where a group would stand with your right hand palm-down resting on the hand of the person beside you, and your left hand palm-up with someone else's hand resting on it. We'd form a circle of ten or so people and Chant:
Down by the river by the hankie-panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
Saying, "East, Eist, Ost, Youst, listen to the ding dong."
Someone would be chosen to start and they'd tap the next person's right hand with theirs on the downbeat. It would go around until the final syllable, when they tried to hit the next person in line before that person pulled their hand away. If the person pulled away, the hitter was out, if they didn't, they (the hittee) were out, and the game would start over until everyone was eliminated.

Anyone remember other song games?

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Juxtapose
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quote:
Originally posted by Samprimary:
"run from the mexicans"

somehow I wish I were joking.

Were these REAL Mexicans, or just living-in-your-brains Mexicans?
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amira tharani
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Great thread! I'm impressed that so many of the games are the same across the pond. We used to play Sardines and Red Rover. I never minded Red Rover, but then I went to a girls' school.

We also used to play what TL called "Pomp" but it's called "British Bulldog" here. There were variations on it, like you could call one person to run across, or there were other things you could call so that everyone hopped or skipped or ran backwards instead of just running across.

Hank, I remember the clapping games. I knew two chants for that game, both complete nonsense. One goes:
Cor macaroni, co-orn flakes, tima ross tima ross, tia tia pop pop pop, tia tia pop pop pop, one two three!
If you get hit on three you're out. The pop pop pop is where you hit the same person's hand three times instead of just once.

We used to skip rope to:
"Teddy bear teddy bear turn around
Teddy bear teddy bear touch the ground
Teddy bear teddy bear climb upstairs
Teddy bear teddy bear say your prayers"
You had to do all the actions while skipping. I think we used to do it so that a new person jumped in each line, and then when you had done the whole song you jumped out again.

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Sala
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Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack
All dressed in black, black, black
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons
All down her back, back, back
She asked her mother, mother, mother
For fifty cents, cents, cents
To see the elephant, elephant, elephant
Jump the fence, fence, fence.
He jumped so high, high, high
He reached the sky, sky, sky
And never came back, back, back
Until the fourth of July, July, July
(hand clap game)

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paigereader
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we played German spotlight - hide & seek in the dark, using a flashlight find people Why German? were we the Nazi's looking for Anne Frank? YIKES.
Where did we come up with these non-PC names?

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ricree101
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quote:
Originally posted by Artemisia Tridentata:
In my childhood, War was the big game. All the kids at school had wooden or metal play guns, Every recess we would dash for the far corner of the school yard, where there was a huge fireplace/barbaque. The chimney was field stone about 20 feet tall, and there was a stepped wall running out 20 or 30 feet on each side. The side that got the chimney first was the Americans, everyone else were the Germans, Japs, or Commies it changed all the time. The rest of the recess was all "Bang, I shot you", "No, you missed by a mile", etc. until the bell rang. WE all kept our guns under the coat hangers in the hall. My dad had made me a super one out of 1x board that had the silhouette of an M1. No one got away with "no, you missed" with me.

Oh yeah, I remember doing something like this too. Except that we were totally bigger nerds and the game revolved around aliens vs predators instead of real life armies. By the time we stopped playing, it basically became a game to see who was the most successful at justifying their unbeatable super powers. Generally, the conversations would go something like "First kid: I win since I shot you with my super nuclear missle gun. Second kid: No way. I blocked it with my invincible forcefield and shot you with my ray gun." And then repeat variations of that conversation all recess long.
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Traceria
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quote:
Originally posted by Sala:
Red Light, Green Light.

That's the one! My brain must have been severly fizzled yesterday. The stop light game. *facepalm*

quote:
Originally posted by Sala:
Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack
All dressed in black, black, black
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons
All down her back, back, back
She asked her mother, mother, mother
For fifty cents, cents, cents
To see the elephant, elephant, elephant
Jump the fence, fence, fence.
He jumped so high, high, high
He reached the sky, sky, sky
And never came back, back, back
Until the fourth of July, July, July
(hand clap game)

Seriously, did we go to the same school or something? I was just recalling that one. XD


For us, War meant cards. The never-ending game of cards...

We also played SPUD a lot. One person tosses a ball (supposed to be football, but any worked) high in the air and calls out another person's name. Everyone but the person retrieving the ball tries to run as far as they can before the person secures the ball and shouts, "Stop!" Everyone freezes, and then the person who caught the ball takes five steps (spelling out SPUD with a period) toward a person they think they can aim and hit with the ball. If they hit the person, that player because "it" and is the next to toss the ball in the air. If they miss, then the thrower must toss the ball. That was a favorite.

We also played croquet a lot because we had an old set. [Smile]

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dabbler
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Oh yeah I remember SPUD!

I visited relatives in Korea a few times when I was a kid and learned a few of their games. In one, you sat in a circle with your hands face up so that your right hand was above the person's hand to your right and the left hand was below the person's hand to your left. Then you clapped your right hand onto the left person's hand, and they kept going down the line. On each person's turn they'd sing part of 'Co' 'ca' 'co' 'la' 'coca' 'cola' 'cocacola' 'bwoing!' (the sound of a can being opened, I think). Then you'd repeat but the last person would say 'bwoing bwoing!' increasing by one every round. You'd have to remember how many times to say it when it was your turn.

The other game, a bunch of people would sit around a circle with their fists closed and their thumbs up. People would take turns saying a number (between 0 and (# of people in group)x2). Everyone would lift 0, 1, or 2 thumbs at that moment. If the number of thumbs equaled the # called, the person who called it out would get to hit everyone else's wrist that many times (with two fingers). I think getting 0 right meant using the # of people playing. Violent game, I know.

That reminds me of Chicken, which I played at summer camp. Two people would hold each other's left hands then take turns smacking the other person's left hand as hard as they could with the right hand. Whoever surrendered first lost [Razz]

Which reminds me of ANOTHER violent game, Mercy. You'd hold hands with the fingers intertwined and try to twist the other person's hand around so much they'd call "Mercy!" to be let go.

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BandoCommando
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I played Kick the Can, too, Jhai. We put the can in the center of our cul de sac and hid in the yards around the cul de sac. We were limited to being in the front yards of the houses.

We also were very organized with snowball fights where I grew up. It was a neighborhood effort to construct a massive snow fort (by 8-year old standards, of course. It was 5 feet tall!!). Once the fort was built, we divided up into teams by selecting team captains and alternating picks. One team got to use the fort, the other team got to carry sleds and use them as shields. It was great.

Unfortunately, when I moved to Oregon, snowball fights were just free-for-alls and anyone building a fort could expect that the fort would quickly get knocked down and used as a source of easy-to-find ammunition. It was way, way less fun in Oregon, IMO.

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maui babe
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A sailor went to sea sea sea
To see what he could see see see
But all that he could see see see
Was the bottom of the deep blue sea sea sea.

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paigereader
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I was deeply troubled to learn that Ring-a-round-the-rosie is a poem about the black death.
and LONDON BRIDGE is really about the London bridge burning down and locking people in the tower.
who thought it was a good idea teach kids to sing songs about lizzie borden took an axe....

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TomDavidson
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quote:
I was deeply troubled to learn that Ring-a-round-the-rosie is a poem about the black death.
In the last few years, I have learned that this is actually not true.
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PSI Teleport
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BB: I don't remember if we had that rule or not.

And other hand-clapping games that were awesome were, "Down, Down Baby" and "Slide," which was an eternal game if you could keep it going that long.

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Mike
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Dodgeball!
Chinese jump rope

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BlackBlade
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quote:
Originally posted by Mike:
Dodgeball!
Chinese jump rope

I used to play Chinese jump roap, I knew alot of the verses in Chinese, I'm kinda sad I don't anymore.
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Mike
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OK, here's one I've been trying to nail down for a while... some creative googling has led me to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_Ella_Ola . The game is very similar to dabbler's Korean coca cola game.

quote:
Stella ella ola, clap clap clap,
Singing s, jigga jigga jigga jigga clap,
Singing s, jigga jigga, flow flow flow flow flow!
One, two, three, four, five!

It's really interesting to see all the variations and how widespread it is. Makes me wonder where it got started and what the original verse was. The version I remember (in Providence, RI circa 1987) was closer to

quote:
Tigo valli oh ah, qua qua qua,
Ti, tigo tigo, tigo tigo ta!
Valo, valo, valo valo valo, valo!
One, two, three, four, five!

Or maybe it was "cinco cinco sa".
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Teshi
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Escape from Colditz.

I played this at Cubs (we were a co-ed group; the most fun I've ever had). We had a long hall and lots of tables and chairs and such set on their sides to hide behind.

One person sat at the end of the hall on a chair with keys underneath it. He was blindfolded (I think) but given a flashlight.

The lights were turned off. The idea of the game was to go from one end of the hall to the other and grab the keys from the jailer without being caught in the beam of the flashlight. Essentially, you were prisoners of war escaping from a POW camp.

The best thing was the sheer scale. The room was big, the lights were off, the furniture specially arranged. The leaders were in charge of who was caught and got sent back to the end wall. You were creeping around in the dark...

Happy times.

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Hank
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quote:
Originally posted by Mike:
It's really interesting to see all the variations and how widespread it is. Makes me wonder where it got started and what the original verse was.

I've always wondered this about nonsense songs myself. My dad is one of a large, musically-inclined family, and I know that some of the family songs are VERY different depending on which of my dad's siblings is singing it. Some of my cousins and I even joked that you could probably tell which aunt or uncle's version you were singing, because you could see how their personality had influenced the way they remembered the song (my dad's version is almost always among the most flamboyant).

I've always found it fascinating that the songs have changed so much in 3 generations, while other songs have changed so little over hundreds of years.

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Shmuel
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quote:
Originally posted by paigereader:
I was deeply troubled to learn that Ring-a-round-the-rosie is a poem about the black death.
and LONDON BRIDGE is really about the London bridge burning down and locking people in the tower.

Ring Around the Rosie has absolutely nothing to do with the Black Death.

For that matter, the origin of "London Bridge Is Falling Down" is unclear... but I'd note that in the earliest known version, it's the much less sudden "London bridge is broken down," and there's no mention of towers at all.

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amira tharani
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Hank, that's the other version of the clapping game I knew! But the version I remember is different from any of the ones in the Wiki article. The one we did went something like:

Cracka della ora, crack crack crack
Decibel treacle, trickle trickle track
Valo valo valo valo valo val-OR
One two three four five!

When I moved schools at age 8, no one knew this version - they all did the Cor Macaroni one.

Did anyone play French Elastic? That's the one where you have two people with a loop of rope round their legs and you jump in and out of the rope.

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neo-dragon
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quote:
Originally posted by BlackBlade:


Suicide: Similar to wall ball, all the players take turns throwing the tennis ball at the wall. As the ball bounces back somebody has to catch it and throw it again. If you fumble with the ball and it hits the ground you have to sprint for the wall and touch it with your hands, while the other players scramble for the ball and attempt to hit the wall with it before the runner reaches it. If the runner makes the wall first he is safe, if the ball hits first the runner turns his back to the other players and faces the wall. The players all get to throw the tennis ball one time at the person as hard as they please.

We played that one too, but we called it "Red Ass", I think?
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Mike
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quote:
Originally posted by amira tharani:
Hank, that's the other version of the clapping game I knew! But the version I remember is different from any of the ones in the Wiki article. The one we did went something like:

Cracka della ora, crack crack crack
Decibel treacle, trickle trickle track
Valo valo valo valo valo val-OR
One two three four five!

That's awesome! You grew up somewhere in the UK, yes?

quote:
Did anyone play French Elastic? That's the one where you have two people with a loop of rope round their legs and you jump in and out of the rope.
Yep, we called it Chinese jump rope.
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Eduardo_Sauron
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"Alex Kid in the miracle world". Awesome game. You played as Alex: a kid.
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