Big Games

THIS BLOG WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN ON JULY 27 2010

The other day when I was out for a walk in the Industrial Park I saw a group of young kids in a parking lot playing Red Rover. There they were - facing each other in two long lines with arms linked together calling out "Red Rover Red Rover - send Tommy right over!"  I found this strange for two reasons. First of all, you don't see groups of kids playing outside that much any more, and secondly you don't see a lot of kids in the Industrial Park. The mystery was soon solved however, when I discovered that the kids were part of a group of young actors who attend a summer school course held in a warehouse near where I work. Maybe it was part of their exercise break or maybe they had an acting coach who was leading them in some sort of structured activity - whatever the reason they sure looked like they were having fun.

And it sure brought back memories of when I was a kid. We played Big Games like that a lot because there were so darn many kids around to play with. It was no problem to get up a game of Red Rover or British Bulldog when I was growing up because everyone else was growing up at the same time. There were so many of us that our parents certainly didn't want us in the house. So we played outside and made up our own games. The older kids taught the younger kids and showed us the ropes so to speak. I don't think there were any official rule books but we all played by the rules.

The best Big Games were the ones that could accommodate the most kids - that is why Hide and Seek was king. Anyone could play, we all knew the rules and if you could count or hide behind a tree - you were in. And as kids we were all so good at making up local variations of games. I remember playing a version of Hide and Seek called Give Me a Wink - if you were "out" and another player winked at you - you could go hide again. Brilliant! Another version we played was called "Chase" and it was basically a teenage boy/girl combination of Hide and Seek and Tag but with what we hoped would be a lot more body contact. You had to be there...

I started thinking of all the Big Games we used to play and it is a long list. I am thinking mainly about large group games that didn't require any adult supervision and had no limit on the number who could play. I have already mentioned a few but here are some of the rules to the games as I recall them:

Hide and Seek - the simplest game of all - no description necessary.

Red Rover (or British Bulldog) - 2 lines were formed facing and each team held hands or locked arms. A player from the opposite side was called and if he could not break through the other line he was kept - if he broke through he could take a team member back to his side. This tended to be a very rough game.

500 Up - a form of baseball without the bases. A batter hit the ball into the field where any number of kids were required to catch the ball for a variety of points. 100 for a fly ball, 75 for a bouncer, 50 for two bounces and 25 points for a grounder etc... first one to get 500 points gets to be batter.

Scrub - scrub was a form of baseball without keeping score. Everyone got a chance to play by moving through the various positions in turn, great fun and great practice. If only more sports could be so democratic.

Go Go Stop  123 Red Light and Mother May I? were all different variations of the same basic game. One kid up front called out directions while the other kids tried to see who could reach the caller without being caught out in some sort of illegal move.  Simon Says would fit into this category as well.

Tag was another Big Fun Game that could accommodate large numbers of children of all ages - no skill was required other than running and tagging or avoiding being tagged. In keeping with the local variation theme - we played a game called Frozen Tag where you had to remain frozen in position until someone tagged you (or untagged you?) again.  Forgive me if I am missing some of the subtleties and nuances here but it has been a long time since I have played any of these games.

I have nothing against organized sports but it is interesting to note that all these games required a great deal of cooperation with no adult supervision and were played equally by both boys and girls ranging in age from preschoolers to teenagers. I don't know about you but I think it was a better world when we all spent more time running, hiding, seeking and tagging.

Oh and by the way - you're it!