Arlene Chaperon writes:
I loved your article about games we played as children.
We lived in Zambia many years ago and the previous tenants had left an old cart….two wheels with a bench seat and a long pole.
So, my sister and I and our next door neighbours’ children used to take it in turns sitting and pulling the occupants along! We also didn’t have a lot of money and had to amuse ourselves.
We also used to love playing ‘jacks’ 10 small metal pieces shaped like a star.
We had to throw them all on the floor and throw a small ball up into the air to see how many we could pick up before the ball came falling down!
Hopscotch was another favourite and we used to draw the blocks in the sand.
There was a set rule of how to hop on one leg only in some blocks and with both legs in others.
We used to also use a tennis ball and throw it against a wall and let it bounce and hop over it, turn around before it came back, etc.
Skipping was also a great hit among us children.
Hide and seek too!
And playing hangman was another great game we used to enjoy.
We drew broken lines as to how many letters were in the word we thought up and the opponent had to guess.
Every time he guessed wrong, the hangman was drawn up.
How these games bring back some wonderful memories.
I feel sad that the children today miss out on, as there was so much interaction among us in those days as there were no TVs,
cellphones, computers…
Thanking you
Kind Regards
Sharonlea
