Tell Unicef UK the playground games you loved as a child - £300 voucher to be won!

[EmmaMumsnet]

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Unicef UK are launching this years Soccer Aid Playground Challenge and would love to hear about the playground games you used to play at school and what games your children play now. The playground is the highlight of the school day where children can burn off all their energy and play with their friends; share below what you loved to play when you were at school and if any of the games have passed down generations.

Here’s what Unicef has to say: “This year, we’re asking all schools across the UK to join us for the Soccer Aid Playground Challenge to help raise money to help give more children around the world a childhood full of play. The idea is simple – teachers team up with their pupils, design an obstacle course that they will take on together, and fundraise to help children in danger in June 2019. Ask your school to sign up here and we’ll send everything you need for kick off - including fundraising and teaching resources to bring Soccer Aid to life for the whole school.”

Alex, Head of Sports for St Dunstan’s RC Primary School, Manchester says: “The Playground Challenge was the perfect way to get the whole school together for a great cause. Everyone (including staff!) had the best time raising money to help children all over the world.”

So what playground games did you love as a child? Were you Queen of hopscotch? Or perhaps you practised your circus skills with stilts? Maybe you created your own playground football league or were seriously skilled at skipping? Do you know if your children still play the same games now at school?

Everyone who posts below will be entered into a prize draw where one Mumsnetter will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list)

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Terms and conditions apply

For us it was marbles. We took our marble bags of dobbies, ball bearings, and small glass balls to school and could not wait until lunchtime to get in groups to roll our precious possessions and if we were hit the marble was won.

French Elastics.

Excellent game, managed to get DD playing for a bit.

I enjoyed French skipping, British bulldog and tag - oh, and I'd forgotten about the Mr Wolf one until I read the post about it above - I loved that too!

We had an entire marble economy. People set up 'stalls' where they put a special marble out and other had to hit it with shooters; if they hit it, they kept it, and the person whose stall it was kept all the shooters. When you had enough shooters, you'd go and take a shot at someone else's special marbles on display, and collect a few of those. Sometimes people set up more elaborate games, where you had to roll the marble through slots on a box, or toss it into a ring, and they also had prizes ranging from special marbles to large numbers of shooters. The person who had the special marble could set up rules like which year groups had to shoot from which line, etc. It was really amazing that it all worked as well as it did, really, with no actual external organisation, but yet full of unspoken rules. It would happen for a couple of months each year. Maybe there was some externallly imposed time so that people knew when they could or couldn't bring the marble bags/buckets! (which lived in the cloackrooms during lesson times).

British bulldogs. Skipping, jacks and lot of handstands against walls and cartwheels. One of our large green playing fields had a slope you could roll down. Although we didn’t have much official outdoor climbing and play equipment we did a lot of somersaults over the handrails of concrete steps leading down to the main hall. Happy days!

The game which sticks in my mind was Red Rover, basically two teams who linked arms and one team had to run at the other and break the chain , if they win they go back to their Team B line. If they fail, they become part of Team A. Very doubtful it would be allowed in school playground nowadays ! Great fun, we let of steam, and I don't remember any injuries.

The only game we really had a bit of a craze about at school was that elastic one where you had a long piece of elastic around two peoples ankles and someone would jump around and over it. Not quite sure how it was that entertaining really??!! My kids now love this balls that you hoop onto your leg and spin while jumping over. I did used to love spacehoppers and those bungee jumpers / balls in a disc you has to bounce on too!

In our concrete 1980s playground that had no swings or similar just some concrete sheds in which we sheltered from the rain, we played chase, British Bulldog, 2 balls (was that a thing in the UK? Juggling 2 tennis balls to songs against a wall) and jumping with elastic bands whatever that was called. We could also be found choreographing dance routines to Material Girl

Hopscotch, British bulldog, elastics, skipping.

tag, bulldog, may i?

We loved french skipping! Also, playing with tennis balls and clapping hands together, both to rhymes. (My mother told me, full stop...) etc.

Clapping games. We often had 15-20 girls in a huge circle clapping, call-and-response etc.

I couldn't skip, but loved French Skipping (aka Elastics).

Hated football. The boys would take over the playground, driving all the girls out to the edge. Was brilliant when the school installed a geodesic climbing frame! The football ruffians soon grew tired of it.

The ones that stick in my mind are the made up ones. A friend and I found a scruffy abandoned toy chick one day and “Cheepy Chick” wasour game for aaaages. We used to make up “shows” incorporating it where we were jumping on and off the school benches telling ourselves it was amazing gymnastics. All those of you who went to a different school missed out on the show of a lifetime, I’m telling you

Also I remember I made up a Cities of Gold game and had all my friends playing that at one point. I forget the details except a lot of running around whispering about treasure!

Skipping games, a game with elastic round our ankles(??), handstand competitions, hopscotch.

In the 70's we played tig, British Bulldog, skipping and cat's cradle. We also had a climbing frame (which didn't have any cushioned flooring underneath it!) and a hopscotch area marked out.
My DC's both play tig and DD had a brief spell of cat's cradle. The most popular game for both of them is '40 40 in' but I have no idea what that even is!!

We had a marbles court at our school and we enjoyed playing games and swapping them etc. Also loved hide and seek (and hide and sneak).

"a sailor went to sea sea sea" hand clapping game.
tag.
stuck in the mud
big skipping roap and all trying to jump in
whats the time mr fox.
pogs.
football.
hide and seek

I often wander whether they still play the same games.
I don't see it much the big game with all kids together.seems to be only the odd game of footie and the rest are in huddle but then what do I know from just looking.
id like to think with all this being on devises more often it hasn't stopped them from playing and socialising in these games we got such joy out of.
all the pc brigade I think will have stopped lots of games we once played.

British bulldog or whats the time mr wolf was two of our favourites. some people skipped.

We had 1 we called ralleo, where there were 2 teams and 1 team hides and the others have to find them, chase them, catch them and bring them back to base. But you could free someone from your team if you tagged them when they were caught at the base. It was over when everyone got caught!

Another 1 for British bulldog too!

I remember red rover too!

Sticky toffee and then something called cats cradle which involved putting a loop of string round your hands and sort of changing the position of it as you passed it between people. Sounds odd I kmow

Grandma's footsteps and "catchers" which was like "it". Also we used to pretend we were chickens.

What's the time Mr wolf, bulldog and red rover were all great playground games. It's not an active game but I used to love playing pogs on the playground too.

duck duck goose was always fun :D

Cat’s cradle
Skipping
Elastics
Clapping games
Tag