What did you play? OS games.

monnagran

My granddaughter came across an old set of dibs in a drawer today. Trying to explain how you played with them I realised that I've not seen children playing with them for about 60 years.

For all you youngsters, dibs are 5 little cubes of chalk (they would be plastic now) and the game consists of throwing one or more in the air and catching them on the back of your hand. There are various complicated moves that involve picking a given number up while one is in the air. Difficult to explain.

Some people call them 'five stones,' but where I grew up that was an entirely different game played with five actual stones and a ball against a wall.

I think you have to be fairly old to know what I am wittering on about.

So, who remembers dibs?

Or what playground games did you play?

Could I remind Hester that we are talking about CHILDREN'S games here.

x

suki1964

Jacks

Five little metal thingies and a little ball

I used to play that for hours


Nowadays I'm a FarmVille fanatic

Bigjenny

I think your dibs were what we called five stones, but they were 5 small cubes of wood, painted different colours, this was in Surrey in the late 50's and early 60's.

Jacks were six pronged metal, with knobs on 4 of the ends, 10 to a set with a small ball, like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Traditional-Metal-Jacks-Game-Classic-Jack-Star-Dib-Snot-Stone-/361515385068

Prinzessilein

Dyspraxia meant I was unable to be very good at these activities (it was called clumsy-child-syndrome back then...I hate the term...but boy, was I ever clumsy!!!)...but I was certainly enthusiastic....

We played all sorts of hopscotch ...no self-respecting girl went out to play without a stump of chalk in her pocket ready to chalk-out a hopscotch game - and probably carried her own 'lucky' stone too!

Skipping was hugely popular....usually with a rope but also there was 'French' skipping which was done with a loop of elastic (two girls looped the elastic round their ankles and stood a foot or so apart - then a third girl jumped on and off the elastic in various ways)

We played jacks and five-stones.

We played two-ball...throwing and catching....I think I remember the rhyme...
To plain-sy (throw ball against wall and catch it.)
To claps -y (as above but clap hands before catching the ball)
To butterfly ( cross hands quickly against chest before catching the ball)
To backs-y (hands go behind back before catching ball)
To high land (throw ball hiiiiiiigh in the air before catching)
To low land (throw ball just a little)
From this hand to that hand (toss ball from one hand, catch with other)
To touch your knee (throw ball against wall, touch knee, catch ball)
Too touch your toe (as above but touch toe)
Let the ball bounce (bounce ball once and catch)
And over we go (throw ball in air, one hand circles around ball before the catch)
...and then repeat every action with a clap before each action (claps-y now has 2 claps!...then with a double clap...et.c)

At school games were a bit rougher..British Bulldog was popular at Primary School - until it was banned after one too many accidents!...and there was a game call 'slaps' which as I recall involved trying to smack the other person on the hand quite viciously!....then I passed my 11+, went to Grammar School and nice-young-ladies just walk around the playground, or walk down to see the rabbit hutches, or if you MUST be energetic you practice netball at break.

elsien

Grandmother's footsteps.
British bulldog - also banned.
And another group game I don't remember the name of which was a bit like tag except instead of tagging the person you had to hit them by throwing a ball at them. Started off with whoever was it, and as each person was hit they joined the "it" team until everyone was trying to catch the last person. Got a bit painful when someone got overenthusiastic with throwing the ball.

marbles in primary school.
Cats cradle - the one with the string, making patterns.

juliettet

Hide & Seek. Very useful for an annoying little sister!
Jacks, two balls and elastic bands threaded together so two friends stepped in the loop and you hopped and crossed them and jumped over. Heels of some sort were useful to catch them. Also threading rope round two treacle tins and standing on them moving them with the rope loops. Getting a fairy liquid bottle, filling with water and squirting it. Pocket money on a little tin of bubbles. Happy days.

freyasmum

We played hide and seen with the children recently and couldn't find my four year old nephew anywhere... Until he appeared, waving at us, from the garage roof. His mother nearly had a heart attack Genius hiding though

We always had plenty of trees to climb and woods to explore.

We had skipping ropes and hula hoops.

We did plenty of clapping games.

We also played British bulldog (again, until it was banned), what's the time Mr wolf, kiss chase, girls would be cartwheeling and boys playing football.

We still play what we call birds and animals (we choose four categories and then someone chooses a letter and we all have to come up with three answers). That's a popular Christmas/New Year or even just unintended gathering one.

I cant remember what its called, but we draw a square with maybe 144 dots and you try to make as many squares as you can without letting your opponent make any squares, one line at a time.

Then we had all the card games.

monnagran

Freyasmum: I'd forgotten about pencil and paper games. As well as Make-a-Square, there was 0s and Xxx, Hangman and Battleships.

I get the impression that today's children have to have something digital to play with. Such a shame as those games seem to be lonely affairs. How much fun we had with a few stones, a ball, a length of clothesline or a handful of marbles.

Being brought up in suburbia most of our games were played in the street. No cars then, just a bicycle or two and the horses and carts belonging to the baker and the rag and bone man. And the lamplighter. Sounds positively Victorian, doesnt it?
I recall a clothes line stretching right across the road from pavement to pavement being twirled by two girls, (they were usually girls, boys were rubbish skippers,) and other girls skipping in the middle and running in and out of the twirling rope.

Bumps - twirling the rope around you twice between each jump.

I am wracking my brain to remember some of the skipping rhymes we used to chant - any help, anyone?

Tipsntreats

I think I remember. I was always rubbish at catching anything, well apart from chasing boys, and catching them for a kiss. I remember as a very young child, using my Mums old stocking with a tennis ball in it. We would stand against a wall and bounce it, each side of arms, then legs or something. No idea what it was called. It was a playground game in Windsor. When my family moved to the Isle of Wight, it was handstands and who could walk on their hands the furthest - I was really good at that.
Tips x

Money_maker

Think 'I'm Shirley Temple' was a popular skipping song in the 70's.

lozzy81

And another group game I don't remember the name of which was a bit like tag except instead of tagging the person you had to hit them by throwing a ball at them. Started off with whoever was it, and as each person was hit they joined the "it" team until everyone was trying to catch the last person. Got a bit painful when someone got overenthusiastic with throwing the ball.

We called it "Dodgy" or "Dodge Ball" as you had to run around and dodge being hit with the ball..... some kids threw them full pelt and we would be left with horrible bruises!!!