Share your stories of youthful springtime games to win Peter Rabbit goodies

[EmilyMumsnet]

Spring is in the air – our noses are a-twitch, our tails a-quiver – and to celebrate, the Peter Rabbit Club are giving one lucky Mumsnetter a fabulous Peter Rabbit book bundle! What’s more, ten runners-up will receive a copy of Peter Rabbit’s Hop To It! sticker book, packed with stickers and fun activities to keep little bunnies busy this Easter.

For a chance to win these goodies, tell us how you enjoyed the spring air when you were but a wee bunny yourself. We particularly want to hear about the classic outdoor games you used to play. Hopscotch anyone?

To enter the competition, just post your top outdoor games on this thread and we’ll pick our favourites. This competition is sponsored by the Peter Rabbit Club.

This competition is now closed
Winner: jeee
Runners-up: KittyFan83, DancingHat, Wotshudwehave4T, itsnotjustaslap, CopperPan, Clawdy, Dollyemi, riverwell, Bostin, buckley1983

Thanks for all your wonderful stories

Congratulations to the winners! We'll be in touch shortly.

We played a game called in and out the dusty? Bluebells where children stand in a circle with arms up like arches and children weave in and out before patting the next 'leader' on the shoulders. Until there were only two children left.

Absolutely loved this game and associated it with playing on the school field which was a rare treat!

I don't know if this is a classic game, but we used to jump on elastic to a rhyme (2, 4, 6 ,8, in, out, on?). Four girls at each corner of the elastic, one person would jump the elastic and then attempt to land on it. It would go from ankle length and then gradually get higher and higher. I was always hopeless at it.

bulldog- is that banned now?
farmer farmer may I cross your golden field of hay?
many variants of tiggy

No no no - it was in and out the fairy bluebells! Unless you talked to the kids from the school down the road who swore it was dusty bluebells. They were wrong!

Skipping was big when I was young to rhymes. EG. Up & down, Up & down all the way to London town, swish swash, swish swash all the way to Kings Cross, legs swing, legs swing all the way to Berlin .... can't remember any more of it!

'What's the Time Mister Wolf' and endless skipping games - both French Elastic and standard skipping ropes. Also our version of squash batting a tennis ball against the school wall or someone's house wall until we were inevitably told off!

We loved What's the Time Mr Wolf? and now my son does too - timeless.

Go for a walk. Catch as many snails as we could find and place them in a pouch made by turning up the bottom of the t-shirts we were wearing. When home, put two twigs on the car bonnet. Line up all the snails caught (having marked them with a felt tip to distinguish who's who). And race!

Lots of skipping with me, and What's The Time Mr Wolf, and of course Stick-In-The-Mud!

I also played the (now apparently banned) British Bulldog, and was one of its casualties, had a nosebleed all afternoon from it once

We used to make camps! We grew up on a farm, rural Devon. Any old shed, wooden door, pig arc, orchard or stack of straw bales made a great space for a camp. If we were really lucky, Dad would string up a rope swing across the nearly empty barn!

My sister and I were mad about elastics, we used to rip our Mums tights on pulse so we had a steady steam of them to play with! We had to use a chair for the third person and then take it in turns to play. 2 4 6 8 Mary's at the garden gate, eating cherries off a plate, 2 4 6 8!! Good times! ??

I used to play Curbie when I was younger :) I was rubbish at it lol

In and out the Scottish bluebells, French skipping with elastic stretched between two people and a third trying to jump in and out, skipping, hopscotch, rounders using trees and lampposts as markers, kiss chase and knocking doors and running away(!)

We played down by the stream at any chance - lots of games! We had a tyre swing which was great fun. We played pooh sticks frequently. We built rafts for our Sindy dolls and Action Men (mixed group). We read books under a big tree and listened to the water running. We had picnics. We got wet when we fell in or it rained (frequently-Scotland). We rode our bikes along the path beside it. We caught insects and fish and looked at them in pails. We had FUN!

So many games with a ball, skipping rope, or nothing. No batteries in sight.
Many rhymes with throwing or bouncing a ball, ideal on your own, up against a house side wall (they were not too happy with the constant 'thud'), great when friends turned up to compete against each other, piggy in the middle, group ball games and throw in a bat and off we became rounders'. Very little cost but lots of energy used

I had a swing in the garden I'd swing on for hours. I'd also play French cricket and croquet with my family of which I have lovely memories.

We used to make up showjumping and obstacle races in the garden with whatever we could find lying around. Broomstick and 2 chairs, washing line, old sheets, flowerpots, slabs/bricks etc etc
And then race obvs

My Dad got me and the neighbour kids a lorry inner tube which we used to invent a whole load of games to play in the garden. They were loosely based on the 'We Are The Champions' TV show (showing my age!) and involved a great deal of shouting.

We used to play 'In and out the Dusty Bluebells'. 'Oranges and Lemons'. 'British Bulldog' 'Kiss Chase' & probably many more besides that I have forgotten.

My friends and I always started off by having tea parties at eachothers houses, go on an adventure on our bikes, our fave spot was a den we created in the local woods we would all make believe and create some amazing stories knights and princesses, pirates etc I have to admit I still love playing those games with my kiddies now. Old games we use to play was curbie, clapping games, skip rope but we still always went back to our den for make believe

Oh my goodness - so many to choose from! 'Doublers' - where we threw balls against the wall and caught them. I can't remember any of the songs or rhymes we sang whilst doing this. Skipping, marbles, 'kerby' which is throwing the ball to the opposite pavement and catching it on the rebound! I've loved seeing my children discover leapfrog recently, as this was a favourite of mine back in the day! Possibly though, marbles was my ultimate favourite. Each marble belonged to a different category - 'chinas' 'chalkies' 'cats eyes'...ah the memories!

My friend and I both had ponds in our gardens, and used to enjoy catching things that lived in the ponds in buckets (and putting them back, obviously). We'd spend hours doing that!

Springtime games? Oh, fond memories of so many. As well as the usual marbles, hopscotch, and traditional sports like football and cricket, my Top 3 'non-equipment' games would be ...

1. 'STUCK IN THE MUD' - The person who is 'It' has to tag everyone else - if you're tagged, you are 'Stuck-In-The-Mud' - you have to stay rooted to the spot with your arms outstretched. If another player is able to run under your arms, you are free. If everyone gets 'Stuck-In-The-Mud', without anybody remaining free, the person who is 'It' wins. Game can be varied by having 2 people 'It'.
2. 'CROCODILE' - One person in the middle of the garden, the rest along one wall (walls either side is 'Home' and safety). The person in the middle shouts, "Crocodile", at which point everyone has to run across to the opposite side. Anybody tagged has to join the person in the middle (has become a 'crocodile' too). Last person remaining, or last person to be tagged, wins.
3. 'CAPTAIN'S DECK' - One person nominated 'Captain' - he/she issues orders which the others have to follow --> e.g. "Scrub The Deck" means everyone has to crouch down and pretend they're scrubbing the floor, "Island" means everyone has to run and touch the wall, "Peg-Leg" means everyone has to stand still on one leg, "Shark" means everyone has to run to the designated 'safe zone' (could be under a tree), "Attention On Deck" means everyone has to stand still, while saluting - can only move if the Captain states "At Ease!", etc., etc. The person who is last, or who fails to follow orders correctly, is out. Game keeps going until there is only one survivor.

I remember one game in particular and it was a family favourite. We used to have a beach set of boules which we mostly kept to use in the back garden! Dad used to toss the jack as we used to all have a go and get so pedantic as we got older that we even started measuring distance of each ball to the jack to decide out winner!

Me and my sister would play this with my parents from about age 7 upwards and it was a perfect game to enjoy which my elderly grandparents could also join in with - nothing too intensive and brilliant for improving children's aims and judging distance.

Needless to say, this same boules set is in my shed just waiting for my 6 and 2 and a half year old to grow into! I think me and the girls grandparents are more excited about this than they are!

In Wallingford there was a common called the crinny hills and I would run along the top, up and down with the wind flowing through my hair, racing my grandads dog, I loved it!