Playground games of yesterday

Not really a Victorian Parlor Game but these vintage school playground games should be a lot of fun if incorporated into a modern day kids party.

All the following information was taken from:-

The Playground Book
By Harry Sperling,
NEW YORK AND CHICAGO
THE A. S. BARNES COMPANY
1916

If you are interested in this book it is freely available at Google books, as it is now out of copyright.
As well as some great party game ideas for kids the book is punctuated with some insightful advice such as:-

“The playground is essentially a place for play. Play is recreation. Play gives health to the body and joy to the soul. Whoever has not tasted the pleasures of youth’s playgrounds has missed much of the sweetness of life.”

When this book was written teachers would be assigned as ‘playground teachers’ and their function was not just to monitor the kids but to organize those games that the author described as “the sweetness of life”.

As I mainly research vintage games and activities for kids party games I am always looking for any quotes, in vintage material, that differentiates between boys and girls games. I found the following (interesting) advice in this book regarding the suitability of certain games and activities for boys:-

“The singing games will be found especially useful with the little folks who range in age from five years to ten. Girls older than this prefer the folk dances, while boys over ten will not play them under any consideration. In fact, a boy over eight should not be obliged any longer to join the girls’ games and dances.”

Anyway, avoiding the nature or nurture discussion (and not withstanding the fact that this book was written before the right of women to vote) I will move right along.

Here are a couple of games that came out of this insightful book and would make good, active, party games for today’s young kids.

The cat and rat game
For younger children (numbers 10 to 30):-
The children form a circle and join hands. One guest is chosen to be the cat and another the rat. The cat has to catch the rat, with the rat running around or in and out of the circle trying to escape. The party guests try to help the rat, by raising their arms to let him or her pass through, and hinder the cat by trying to block his or her path. As the game favors the rat, after a while another ‘cat’ can be introduced.

Balloon game
This game can be played in a classroom or outside. The game is simple and that is to divide the party into two teams and they have to score a goal with a balloon, by hitting it with an open palm of the hand. The goals are two strings stretched (either on poles or from wall to wall) about seven feet off the ground and the balloon has to pass over the string. The length of the goal is around 10 feet and the length of the ‘pitch’ is around the size of a classroom.

More vintage game ideas, including Victorian Parlor Games coming soon.