Go out and play!

Sound familiar? Children have probably been hearing this from adults since families lived in caves. Games played outdoors, in groups or pairs, on teams, or even alone, are as old as, well, the ball (ancient Egyptian balls were made from linen). Kids still play some of these games. Others have been lost in the mists of time.

Bzzzzzzz. "I will chase the bronze fly . . ." (1) These children in ancient Greece are playing Bronze Fly, a type of blindman's bluff. One blindfolded player tries to catch the others, who make buzzing sounds and tap him with whips made of reeds. (2) If that doesn't set you atremble with excitement, how about a fast game of knucklebones? Using small bones from the feet of goats or sheep, children played games similar to marbles, dice, and jacks. A favorite among girls was Five Stones, in which players tossed the bones up and tried to catch them on their hands. Bones that fell had to be retossed and caught without dropping any off the hand. Knucklebones was one of the most popular games in ancient Greece, and kids kept their treasured playing pieces in special little sacks, collecting them as eagerly as you might collect baseball cards.

Ancient Egyptian kids loved athletics, gymnastics, and swimming in the Nile River. Don't drop that ball! Ancient Egyptian girls loved to play catch. (1) In this version, if one of the girls riding piggyback drops the ball, she must then carry her partner. Balls might be made from linen, reed, clay, wood, or leather stuffed with hay. (2) If games of strength are your thing, try this tug of war. Team captains grasp arms and brace against each other's feet, while hardy teammates hold on from behind. (3) Tug of Hoop is harder than it looks, testing quickness, concentration, and agility. Players try to unhook sticks and steal the hoop away without letting it fall down.

In England in the 1300s, kids played with almost anything they could get their hands on. (1) The girl below must be pretty wealthy, because her hobby horse actually has a wooden head. Many children had to imagine the head; their "horses" were just sticks. Giddyap! (2) If riding around on a pole isn't your favorite game, see how far you can roll a hoop with a stick. (3) The only equipment needed for Buck-Buck is a strong set of shoulders. One team tries to "buck" the other team's members off before they can all climb up. (4) If you want to kick a ball-made from a pig's bladder-you're just in time. The "football" season unofficially began on All Saints' Day, the first of November, when people slaughtered livestock to store food for the winter.

Apache children played games to keep busy during cold winter evenings. (1) Shinny, a game played with long bent sticks and a buckskin ball, could get pretty rough. Players scored goals by hitting the ball between two trees. (2) You'll need tricky fingers to beat an Apache child at her version of jacks, played with washed and polished walnut shells. Children practiced for hours to catch four walnuts between their fingers while the fifth walnut was still airborne. (3) Some sacred Apache games came from tribal stories. According to the legend of creation, the animals and birds fought over whether the world should be dark or light. To decide, they played the Moccasin Game. One player guessed which moccasin hid a bone, pointing to it with a long pole, while the other player sang and danced to distract his opponent. The players kept score with Apache counting sticks.

Copyright Carus Publishing Company Nov/Dec 2003
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved