(Redirected from Playground game)A 'playground game' is a physical and verbal outdoor game which has been devised by groups of children for their own entertainment. These games may be adaptations of existing
sports or they may only exist informally in children's play areas such as parks, school playgrounds and streets around where children live. They are played without adult supervision and with the minimum of equipment. The rules are not written but are agreed by the participants.
As the rules and names of these games are passed down orally, there are many regional and generational variations. For example the game
tag is variously known as 'it', 'tig', 'catch-as-catch-can', 'he' among others. Then there are variations on this basic theme such as 'off ground tig', 'budge' etc.
Many of these games are extremely old and have been played in one form or another for centuries. Others arise as a product of
popular culture in a particular era or due to a particular toy or piece of equipment such as the
skateboard,
yo-yo,
Rubiks cube or
Scoobies.
Types of playground game
Selection methods
:''See also
Counting-out game''
These are mini-games which are played to determine the initial set-up of a game, e.g. who is 'it' or which players are on which team.
One popular method in England is 'halfs and tibbs'. The two captains stand a random distance away from each other and take it in turns to walk towards each other, one step at a time, placing each foot immediately in front of their last. The first person to tread on the other persons toes gets 'first pick'. 'Halfs' and 'tibbs' allow a player to place the front portion of his foot in front of his planted foot and then skip back, advancing him half as far as he otherwise would have been. Such contests can drag on for several minutes. The toss in improvised games of cricket is usually done with the bat, with one captain spinning the bat in the air and the other calling 'splice' or 'hump' as one would call heads or tails with a coin. 'Splice' usually, though not always, means the caller wins if the bat lands with the flat side facing upwards.
Tag
Probably among the oldest games played all over the world. One person is 'it' or 'on' and is up against the remainder of the players.
Hide and seek is a universal example.
Within this category a distinction can be drawn between games where there is always only one person who is 'it' at any time and games where more than one person can be 'it' at the same time.
British Bulldogs and 'Chain tig' are examples where more and more players become 'it' until one winner is left un-caught.
Another version of this game is 'Tig Off Ground' in which those being chased are allowed to find temporary sanctuary by climbing on an object, such as a tree or playground apparatus. Players are allowed to stay safe 'off ground' for an agreed count of perhaps ten with the chaser also having to back away in that time. This game is also called 'Pirates' with the pirates chasing down those remaining until a winner is found.
On a wider scale 'bike tig' can also be played, with members of each team on bicycles.
Manhunt
Possibly derived from the adult game of the same name, this game is where one or two people are designated as 'it' or 'on', and the others must hide or escape from those who are 'it'. Some ingenious methods of hiding include disguising themselves as bags of rubbish or even a tree, although break times often do not last long enough for such devices to be implemented.
To catch someone, you must hold the player and say "Manhunt 1 2 3 Caught" and doing so that player becomes it as well as the rest. This can cause controversy because some people could get hurt being pulled down and some could use the infamous "you didn't grab me properly or say it properly" line.
To get to base, you must shout "Manhunt 1 2 3 home!".
Blue Murder
This game may have many variations and may come under various other names. It isn't really considered a 'playground game' due to its' potential violence. However, the game is popular amongst schoolkids.
Blue Murder is usually a violent game, where two teams are decided. If, say, there are two teams of 5, they must then choose which team to be "it". This is usually decided by a coin. When the team who are, "it" is chosen, the other team (the runners) must choose a word with as many letters as the people in the team (E.g. 5 people = a 5-letter word, such as 'money'). The team must not tell the "it" team what the word is. When they have chosen a word, each person in the team is designated with a letter from the chosen word (Person 1 = M, Person 2 = O etc.). The running team, after completing these tasks, must run off. The "it" team then has to count to a previously decided number before beginning to look for, and chase, the runners. If a person from the "it" team catches a person from the running team, he must grab the person and ask for the letter that the runner is given.
The running person can either decline saying the letter he has been assigned with, or shout out, "blue murder!" and then give the person his letter. If the runner declines to say his letter, he can be open to be beaten up by the "it" person for a number of seconds before being asked for the letter again, to which the runner would be more vulnerable and will give in, and shout, "blue murder!" and give the letter. Although it's not common, the runner can be stubborn and no matter what he's been through by the person to receive his letter, he can still decline. If that happens, it's not uncommon for the "it" person to let go and run after someone else to repeat his mission.
Once the "it" team has enough letters to guess the word (and, obviously, get it right), the "it" team wins and will be the ones who are the runners in the next game. An example is if they found out the letters N, M and Y (the people with O and E didn't give them their letters, or have never been caught), the "it" team can guess the word. If they'd have guessed "money", they have won. If they'd have guessed "manly", they either would have to guess again, or wait for another letter. Obviously, if they get all the letters, they win (as long as they find out what the word is, which won't be hard at all).
It's not uncommon for more than one person to 'beat up' a runner for the letter.
Because of its' violence, it is normally frowned upon by some people. The "it" team can take the part of 'beating up' a runner a little too seriously and will violently harm the runner to get the letter.
Physical Contact Games
Group games played without a ball where the objective involves physical contact with the participants. Examples are
Buck buck and Pile-on. Many of these games, including
Tag, are now outlawed in schools. So more and more of these games are played by older participants in unregulated settings.
Line Tig
A variation on 'tig', this game is most commonly played on grounds which have some form of markings, such as basketball courts or football pitches. one person is designated as 'it', and others must escape from that person, all while keeping to the markings.
Ball games
Not necessarily using a ball as such, but rather any object which is considered as a ball for the purposes of the game, i.e. thrown, kicked, batted etc. For example, stones, tin cans, scrumpled paper etc.
Ball games are often derivatives of more formal
sports such as
Football or can be a kind of
tag as above. Notable examples include:
"Tip and Run" and "Non stop cricket"
These variations of
cricket are popular in
England. Playground or back garden cricket is played with an old tennis ball, 'windball' or other soft ball and not an adult cricket ball. In 'tip and run' the batsman must attempt to run a single if they hit the ball with the bat. This increases their chances of being run out and so speeds up the game. In 'non stop cricket' the batsman must run after hitting the ball but cannot be run out. However the bowler is entitled to bowl at the stumps as soon as he receives the ball from the fielder, regardless of whether the batsman has regained his ground. A playground game also used by cricket teams in fielding practice sees a group standing in a rough circle and tossing a ball underarm to each other at random with as much surprise and misdirection as possible. Every time someone drops a ball he is out until only one person is left. If a throw is agreed as impossible it is discounted, with the miscreant sometimes being banned from the game. See also
French cricket.
When playing cricket in a back garden the 'six and out' rule is strictly enforced. Any batsman hitting the ball into a neighbouring garden is responsible for retrieving the ball and loses his wicket as punishment. Stumps are often chalked on a wall and any ball edged by the batsman into that wall is adjudged 'caught behind' and causes his dismissal. Bushes or other objects may be assigned as fielders with the batsman being dismissed if he plays a ball into them without it first bouncing.
"Donkey" and "Spot"
The ball must be kicked, hit or thrown against an agreed length of wall by each player in turn. Every time the ball hits the wall the next player must attempt it from where it rebounds to. If a player misses the wall they are out (in 'Spot') or lose a life (in 'Donkey' they get a letter towards spelling out DONKEY) until they have lost all lives and are out. This is also known as
wallie.
Fumble aka Wall Ball, Murder, Butts Up
In this increasingly popular playground game, a tennis ball has to be thrown or kicked at a wall. When it bounces off you have to catch it/pick it up and throw/kick again, however, if the ball hits you and doesn't hit the wall, you have to run and touch the wall. If another player returns the ball to the wall by throwin/kicking it before the 'fumbler' has touched it, then the 'fumbled' player has to run the length of the wall, while the person who fumbled him, has a free chance to throw the ball and hit him, which is optional. A variation is calling the fumbler 'out' and is set to a number of outs. An optional setting is saying "blackmail" to the person throwing if he/she is far away from the wall. This means the thrower must throw it over a certain colour of the wall. The game continues, until the owner of the ball decides to finish.
Another variation of Wall Ball is that once the ball bounces back off the wall, a player must try to catch it (or stand aside to let someone else have at the ball, although this is seen as cowardly). If the player touches the ball but fails to catch it, drops it, or is hit by it while it is bouncing/rolling, the player must run to touch the wall before another player throws the ball at the wall. If the player fails to reach the wall before the ball is thrown he/she gets a point. After a player receives three points they must then get face up against the wall and spread their limbs for a "pegging" with the tennis or raccquetball. Each player (excluding the one on the wall) then throws the ball at the player on the wall as hard as they can, aiming for the person (except for the head) on the wall. If the player is hit in the head, the thrower then goes up for a pegging. This version is extremely painful and most players will "chicken out" and decide not to play. When a player runs away, players try to hold them back and call it an 'execution'.
★ Also known as Redass, Red-A, or "Murder".
Square
This game uses a small ball, such as a tennis ball; the smaller the ball the more challenging the game. It is played within a marked-out rectangular area, usually a tennis court or a basketball court – hence the name “Square”. The game is played by two or more players; the more players there are the longer the game lasts. The game has no set time limit although it is usually stopped by the ending of the break and the need to return to lessons!
The object of the game is to remove your opponents from the game area by making them break one of the rules. The rules are:
★ Do not kick the ball outside of the playing area
★ Do not touch the ball more than once
★ Do not kick the ball off the ground
★ Do not deliberately avoid the ball
When there are many players, a successful player will usually employ the tactic of rebounding the ball off an opponent to go outside of the playing area; the player to last have contact with the ball before it left the playing area is “out” and leaves the playing area (usually to remain on the sidelines to shout encouragement to their friends or to ridicule others). To counter this rebound tactic, players usually try to stop the ball dead with their foot but they must be careful not to touch the ball more than once.
The rule to not deliberately avoid the ball is controversial as its interpretation is subjective. If the ball is kicked towards an opponent, passes within their reach and they make no attempt to touch the ball then they would fall foul of the rule. If the opponent has to run to touch a moving ball, the ball goes out of the playing area and the opponent had no chance of reaching the ball then they would usually be safe and the kicker would be out.
Groups of players may choose to act as a team if they wish although it is usually played as a game of many individuals. Discussions during the game on the interpretation of the rules is usually lively.
The winner is the last person remaining who has not broken the rules.
Pegs
'Pegs' is a playground game common in the north of
England using a
tennis ball and three long wooden clothes pegs. Two teams are picked and each member of each team has three attempts to knock over the pegs set up in a '
stonehenge' shape against a wall. Members from each team take turns alternately, with members of the other team trying to catch the ball on the rebound. The player throws the ball at the pegs from a line about six feet away from the wall against which they are set. If the ball rebounds from the wall and is caught by a member of the opposing team, that player loses their remaining throws or, alternatively the whole team loses its go until one of their members is caught in turn.
When one player is successful in knocking down the set of pegs with the ball the second part of the game begins. The members of that team immediately scatter with their task to set up the pegs in the 'stonehenge' shape again. The members of the other team must prevent them by throwing the tennis ball and hitting each member of the team trying to reset the pegs. Once a player is hit he cannot participate in setting up the pegs again. The 'hunting team' must throw the ball to each other to pass it and are not allowed to run with the ball in their hands. In some variations the 'hunted' team are allowed to knock the tennis ball away with their clenched fists. Every time a team successfully resets the pegs before all their members have been tagged with the ball, they score a point. The game can be played by any number of children of all ages.
Swing games
Playground swings can be used for a number of games. One variation sees each competitor swing as high as possible and jump from the swing to land as far away as they can. Each 'long jump' is measured with the winner clearing the longest distance. Another variation, played by 4 people, is often called 'Helicopter'. This involves two children sitting on swings while their partner twists it around as many times as possible. On command each swing is released with the winner being the one who rotates the longest, as in a skater's spin. Elder siblings traditionally do the twisting, younger siblings sitting on the spin and doing the spinning. Playground roundabouts can be used in similar ways, with players jumping off to record the longest jump or staying on the longest as the roundabout is spun by others.
Skipping games
These involve jumping over a rotating rope or several ropes and often use
Skipping rhymes: rhythmic chants which determine the tempo of the jumping.
A variation on skipping games is "elastics" (sometimes known as
Chinese jump rope), in which a loop of elastic (about 1cm wide, 3m long) is held by two people about 1.5m apart and a third person jumps in and around the elastic to set rhymes and patterns. The elastic begins at ankle height and shoulder width. If the jumper completes the rhyme at a certain height, the elastics are moved up from knees, to "under-bums", to hips, waists, under-arms, necks and even "sky" or "tree-tops", which is as high as the holders can reach. When the rhyme has been completed at all levels, the game is made more difficult: skinny (using only one foot to hold the elastics), wide (legs as far apart as possible), blind (jumper's eyes closed), cross-over (the elastic closest to the jumper is crossed over the far elastic and the rhyme completed in the resulting triangle of elastic) etc. The game can also be played in teams, where, if the first jumper makes a mistake, the second jumper must complete the rhyme twice.
One popular rhyme is: ''England Ireland Scotland Wales Inside Outside Puppy Dogs Tails''
Word games
For example
I spy, naming things starting with all the letters of the alphabet, linking words (e.g. "ball game", "game show", "show off"...)
Races
For example running, hopping, climbing.
Acrobatic and agility
For example
hopscotch, limboing, handstands also running jumping soccer (depending on age) etc.
Performing games
In performing games, players act out agreed parts (for example: cops and robbers or doctors and nurses).
Other Games
★
Bloody Knuckles (Also known as Quarters)
★
Dodgeball
★
★
British Bulldog(s)
★
★
Keep Away
★
Four square
★
French cricket
★
Hopscotch
★
Jacks
★
Skipping (rope)
★
Kickball
★
Marbles
★
Parkour
★
Red Rover
★
Simon says
★
★
Red light, green light
★
★
Mother May I?
★ The game of "
Tag" or "It"
★
★
Hide and Seek
★
Wall Ball
★
Tackleball
★
What's the time, Mr Wolf?
★
Radio
Ball Games
Kerby
The object of Kerby is to reach a chosen amount of points chosen by the 2 players using a ball. One must throw the ball at the other side of the
kerb and attempt to hit it. If you are successful at hitting the kerb and providing the opposition player didn't catch the ball as soon as it hit, you have to stand inbetween the two Kerbs and aim and throw the ball at the Kerb again. You score 10 points for the first initial throw and another 10 for each throw in the middle.
★ Scoring in Kerby
Scoring stays the same when you stand in-between the Kerbs but is only different for standing on your own Kerb.
10 points for a throw
50 for a backwards throw
30 points for a kick
If your first initial throw bounces of the Kerby and you catch it, you get 20 points. But when you are stood in the middle and you take a shot and miss, if the opposition player hits you before you get back in time, the opposition player gets half of your points.
Some players like to make small point bets in the game (e.g., "If I throw the ball over the car I get 50 points?") Others like to make a bets along the lines of, "If I throw the ball from here, I win the game?".
★ Controversy
The game is quite controversial since any misthrows or balls bouncing off a kerb can easily injure someone or hit nearby cars. A misthrow could even shatter a window.
References
External links
★
Camping Games
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