mathmarm Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 (edited) We consider "traditional" games a part of our kids elementary education so we very intentionally teach them to play these games/activities from PreK on up. It would be cumbersome to type up the rules and games that we used to play as kids, so instead let's share any resources that we know of that can help in the preservation and passing on of favorite childhood games. String Games There are Books of String Games and MomsMiniVan has a blog and playlist where she demonstrates how to play several as well. Marbles Games The book Marbles: 101 Games includes many, many, many variety of Marbles Games that can be played. Sidewalk Games Card Games We prioritize teaching games that can be played with a standard deck of cards. Currently, this is a weakness in our home school, the only know about 5--actually about 8 games to play with a standard deck of cards. Using a deck of cards, my kids know and play: Go Fish, Old Maid, War, Crazy 8s, Slap Jack, Cheat, Memory/Concentration and Solitaire. We're making an effort to teach them to play 15 more card games over the next 2 years.The Ultimate Book of Family Card Games and then later upgrading to a more comprehensive book such as The Penguin Book of Card Games Commercially Available Card Games: Uno | Rook | Racko | Phase 10 | Monopoly Card GameCommercially Available Board Games: Sorry | Clue | Life | Twister | Operation Clapping Games, Rhythm Games, Chants and Finger Plays The Kids absolutely love these. We taught the ones we knew from childhood as well as use several books for additional games and rhymes.Anna Banana: 101 Jump Rope RhymesMiss Mary Mack and other Children's Street RhymesHand Clap!The Complete Book of Rhymes, Songs, Poems, Fingerplays, and ChantsI Saw You In The Bathtub and other Folk RhymesHand Rhymes Play Rhymes Classic Play Things Yoyo Frisbee Boomerangs Jacks Marbles Bicycles Pogo Stick Unicycle Jump Rope Hula Hoop Paddle Ball Chalk Tiddlywinks Pick Up Sticks Board Games: Chess Mancala Checkers Dominoes Yahtzee Outdoor Group Games: Kick the Can Kickball Dodgeball O-U-T Out Capture the Flag Hopscotch Four Square Tag (and variations) Hide and Seek (and variations) Monkey in the Middle Duck Duck Goose Simon Says Musical Chairs Please chime in with suggestions for resources or games that we might not have known as kids or just be forgetting in our old age. Edited June 19, 2022 by mathmarm added links, fixed types, expanded list and altered wording. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knitgrl Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 The card games makes me think of ds22, who mentioned Rummy and Crazy 8's to his coworkers, and nobody had any clue as to what he was talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knitgrl Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 This thread also reminds me of this: https://www.amazon.com/Bathtub-Other-Folk-Rhymes-Level/dp/0064441512/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=i+saw+you+in+the+bathtub&qid=1655483032&sprefix=i+saw+you+in+the+%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 Card games: Uno Racko there is a monopoly card game that we played but it wasn't as good as the board game Rook Phase 10 Yatzee (actually this is a dice game) Playground/neighborhood games: kickball kick the can capture the flag dodgeball (though I never liked this as a child cuz those balls can sting!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 (edited) Four square Hopscotch Edited June 17, 2022 by Jean in Newcastle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acorn Posted June 18, 2022 Share Posted June 18, 2022 We love cribbage. I taught it to them to practice addition skills in early elementary but we haven’t stopped playing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathmarm Posted June 18, 2022 Author Share Posted June 18, 2022 20 hours ago, knitgrl said: The card games makes me think of ds22, who mentioned Rummy and Crazy 8's to his coworkers, and nobody had any clue as to what he was talking about. Two thoughts--this is the sort of thing we want to prevent. The kids should know how to play at least a dozen games that can be played with a standard deck of cards and that hundreds more are possible. And yay! The kids do know and play Crazy 8s. We'll have to teach them Rummy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted June 18, 2022 Share Posted June 18, 2022 (edited) 8 hours ago, mathmarm said: ...The kids should know how to play at least a dozen games that can be played with a standard deck of cards and that hundreds more are possible... In addition to Crazy 8s:WarConcentrationOld MaidGo Fish and 99 are a few other card games I remember playing as a kid. Also -- Spades and Hearts. And a trick-taking game with trump, with a descending # of cards in each round, starting with 10 cards, and the last round only 1 card is dealt to each player. (My grandparents called it "Tish", but O Hell seems to be the closest online rules I can find.) See this book for even more card games and their rules. Also: solo card games such as the various iterations of Solitaire (Clock Solitaire was a fun layout I remember from childhood) -- some of which can be played with 1 or more other players as Double Solitaire or Nertz (also called Speed Demon, Pounce, and several other names). There's another solo card game I recall from childhood, but I can't remember the name -- I think we just called it "One-Handed Solitaire". Basically, you shuffle the deck and hold it in one hand, with the backs facing you. Pull the card from the bottom and turn it over so it faces you, and place it on top of the pack, facing you. Repeat this until you have 4 cards slightly fanned out so you can see them all. Compare card 1 and 4 -- if they are the same number, you get to discard all 4 cards. If they are the same suit, you drop the 2 middle cards (cards 2 and 3). If neither option happens, then discard nothing and pull up the next card and count over 3 cards from the new face up card -- if the numbers (or if both are an A, K, Q, J), all 4 cards are discarded. If only the suits match, then discard the 2 cards between card 1 and 4 that are being compared. The object of the game is to go through the whole deck and be able to discard the entire deck by the time you reach the end. Because you hold the deck in your hand the whole time, this is a good one for car/plane trips, or for when in doctor's waiting office or other small/confined space. Edited June 18, 2022 by Lori D. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 18, 2022 Share Posted June 18, 2022 Has anyone mentioned War? (Card game). board games: Sorry Clue Life Twister (not really a board game but still comes in a box) Operation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted June 18, 2022 Share Posted June 18, 2022 (edited) I'm also reminded of childhood group games such as: - Duck Duck Goose - Simon Says - Musical Chairs - Tag (and all the many variations such as freeze tag, statues, etc.) - Run Sheep Run (one "it" and everyone else are sheep; "it" calls "run sheep run", and everyone else runs across the basketball court or field, with "it" trying to tag as many as possible; all who are tagged are now "it", and play continues until everyone has been tagged, and the last person caught gets to be the first "it" for the next game) Hopscotch and Jacks were great as solo games or with one other friend. I did a few Victorian party games with the high schoolers in my co-op class last year, and Pass the Parcel was especially enjoyed by them.Tiddly-Winks and Pick-Up Sticks are two more old-fashioned fun games. And Barrel of Monkeys. Edited June 18, 2022 by Lori D. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eos Posted June 19, 2022 Share Posted June 19, 2022 (edited) Love this thread! We are a game-playing family and echo all of the above. Family favorite for Christmas night and New Year's Eve: charades, either house rules or from the box. Board and cards: Stratego and pinochle. Five Crowns is our favorite modern commercial game, with Rat-a-tat Cat in second place. Outside games: Lemonade, the New Orleans version. Dd25 and I play rummy over long periods of time with on-going score-keeping. When we did college visits and got stuck in the midwest due to a snow storm we ended up with scores in the 10,000s. We learned wonderful games from this book/game collection: https://www.ebay.com/itm/284816061635? Roundabouts and Nine Mens Morris are our favorites from this book. I've also made three board games, a deck of cards, and a personalized yatzee score card with silver dice for my 25th wedding anniversary gift to dh. Edited June 19, 2022 by Eos 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eos Posted June 19, 2022 Share Posted June 19, 2022 (edited) Adding magic tricks, both illusional and with cards. Oldest ds was truly good at them, and studied from books. Our kids would set up shows and really work on them for hours. Not games but wholesome fun for older kids: model rockets. Edited June 19, 2022 by Eos 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vasha Posted June 20, 2022 Share Posted June 20, 2022 And paper airplanes, paper helicopters, paper boats, cootie catchers, paper cups, other origami 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.