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List of traditional children's games

List of traditional children's games

This is a list of games that used to be played by children, some of which are still being played today. Traditional children's games do not include commercial products such as board games but do include games which require props such as hopscotch or marbles (toys go in List of toys unless the toys are used in multiple games or the single game played is named after the toy; thus "jump rope" is a game, while "Jacob's ladder" is a toy). Despite being transmitted primarily through word of mouth due to not being considered suitable for academic study or adult attention, traditional games have, "not only failed to disappear but have also evolved over time into new versions."[2]

Traditional children's games are defined, "as those that are played informally with minimal equipment, that children learn by example from other children, and that can be played without reference to written rules. These games are usually played by children between the ages of 7 and 12, with some latitude on both ends of the age range."[3] "Children's traditional games (also called folk games) are those that are passed from child to child, generation to generation, informally by word of mouth," and most children's games include at least two of the following six features in different proportion: physical skill, strategy, chance, repetition of patterns, creativity, and vertigo.[4]

Tag Games

  • Tag[5][6] Ball tag Chain tag Cops and robbers (Cowboys and Indians) Freeze tag[7] Ghost in the graveyard Kiss chase Stuck in the mud

  • Blind man's buff[6]

  • British bulldogs (Sharks and minnows)

  • Capture the flag (Stealing Sticks)

  • Duck, duck, goose

  • Duck on a rock

  • Kabaddi

  • Kick the can

  • Marco Polo (game)

  • Monkey on Woodchips (Grounders)

  • Patintero

  • Pie

  • Poison

  • Puss in the corner[7]

  • Ringolevio

  • Statues (red light, green light; Grandmother's Footsteps)

  • Tumbang preso

  • What's the time, Mr Wolf?

Hiding Games

Games with Equipment

  • Ball games[5][6]

  • Ball in a Cup

  • Baseball

  • Basketball

  • Beanbag toss

  • Catch

  • Conkers

  • Continuous cricket

  • Dandy shandy

  • Dodgeball

  • Football

  • Four Square (Kingey)

  • French cricket

  • Ga-ga

  • Hand Ball

  • Hoop rolling

  • Horseshoes

  • Kickball

  • Kick-to-kick

  • Knife game[1]

  • Lagori

  • Marbles[5][6]

  • Minkey

  • Mumblety-peg[9][10][1]

  • Paddle ball

  • Paper football

  • Queenie[11]

  • Silent ball

  • Soccer Hockey

  • Spinning top

  • Spud

  • Stickball

  • String games[6] (cat's cradle)

  • Stoop ball

  • Tennis

  • Tether Ball

  • Tug Of War

Jumping Games

  • Ampe, from Ghana

  • Double Dutch (jump rope)

  • Hopscotch[5][6]

  • Jumping Jacks

  • Jumping rope[5][6] (Skipping rope)

  • Jumpsies (also known as Chinese jump rope, elastics, or gummitwist)

  • Leapfrog[5][12]

  • Mario

Memory Games

  • Chinese whispers (Telephone[5])

  • Here Comes an Old Soldier from Botany Bay (Old Soldier)

  • I went camping and I...

Parlour Games

  • Hunt the Thimble[5] (Hot and Cold)

  • Huckle buckle beanstalk[13] (Hot buttered beans[13])

  • I spy

  • Truth or Dare?

  • Wink Murder

Hand Games

  • Bloody knuckles

  • Chopsticks

  • Clapping games[5][6] Concentration 64 (clapping, memory game) Double Double This This Down Down Baby Down by the Banks

  • Hand games[5]

  • Mary Mack

  • Pat-a-cake

  • Red hands

  • Rock-paper-scissors

  • Thumb war

Other Traditional Children's Games

  • Buck buck (High Cockalorum)

  • Button, button, who's got the button?

  • Counting out[5][6]

  • Crack the whip

  • Doctor[14][1]

  • Floor is Lava

  • Follow the leader

  • Four corners (game)

  • House[14]

  • Hurray

  • Jinx

  • Keep Away (Monkey in the middle)

  • Knock, Knock, Ginger (Ding dong ditch)

  • Knucklebones[6] (jackstones[5], Jacks[6])

  • Limbo

  • London Bridge

  • Mother May I?

  • Ninja

  • Oshikura Manju

  • Pencil fighting

  • Piljke

  • Pitching pennies

  • Poohsticks

  • Red Rover

  • Ring a Ring o' Roses

  • Seven Up

  • Simon says[14]

  • Singing games

  • Skully

  • Sleeping lions

  • Stone skipping

  • Tic-tac-toe

  • Tip-cat

  • Wrestling

See also

  • Paper-and-pencil games

  • Street games

References

[1]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgThis game may be considered inapropriate by some adults.
Sep 27, 2019, 11:04 AM
[2]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgLindon, Jennie (2001). Understanding Children's Play, p.83. Nelson Thornes. ISBN 9780748739707.
Sep 27, 2019, 11:04 AM
[3]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgSierra, Judy and Kaminski, Robert (1995). Children's Traditional Games, p.xii. Oryx. ISBN 0897749677.
Sep 27, 2019, 11:04 AM
[4]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgSierra and Kaminski (1995), p.3.
Sep 27, 2019, 11:04 AM
[5]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgGryski, Camilla (1998). Let's Play: Traditional Games of Childhood, p.5. Kids Can. ISBN 1550744976.
Sep 27, 2019, 11:04 AM
[6]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgSierra and Kaminski (1995), p.v-vi.
Sep 27, 2019, 11:04 AM
[7]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgGryski (1998), p.10-11.
Sep 27, 2019, 11:04 AM
[8]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgGryski (1998), p.15.
Sep 27, 2019, 11:04 AM
[9]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgNewell, W. W. (2010). Games and Songs of American Children, p.189. Nabu Press. ISBN 978-1-145-39322-6.
Sep 27, 2019, 11:04 AM
[10]
Citation Linkbooks.google.comFoster, Edna Abigail; ed. (1916). Something to Do,—Boys!: A Book for Wide-Awake Boys, p.222. W.A. Wilde. [ISBN unspecified].
Sep 27, 2019, 11:04 AM
[11]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgGryski (1998), p.26.
Sep 27, 2019, 11:04 AM
[12]
Citation Linkwww.merriam-webster.com"Leapfrog", Merriam-Webster.com. Accessed June 27, 2015.
Sep 27, 2019, 11:04 AM
[13]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgGryski (1998), p.16.
Sep 27, 2019, 11:04 AM
[14]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgSchaefer, Charles E.; Reid, Steven E.; eds. (2004). Game Play: Therapeutic Use of Childhood Games, p.10. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780471437338.
Sep 27, 2019, 11:04 AM
[15]
Citation Linkbooks.google.comSomething to Do,—Boys!: A Book for Wide-Awake Boys
Sep 27, 2019, 11:04 AM
[16]
Citation Linkwww.merriam-webster.comLeapfrog
Sep 27, 2019, 11:04 AM
[17]
Citation Linken.wikipedia.orgThe original version of this page is from Wikipedia, you can edit the page right here on Everipedia.Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Additional terms may apply.See everipedia.org/everipedia-termsfor further details.Images/media credited individually (click the icon for details).
Sep 27, 2019, 11:04 AM