Street Games

stodge. · Post by **stodge.** » Fri 16 Sep, 2011 3:17 pm

Mork of Ork wrote: We used to play a game called 'spot' at school. You all took turns throwing a tennis ball (sometimes kicking a football) against a wall, the next person would have to get the ball before it stopped rolling/bouncing and throw/kick it from wherever they were to the wall.If they missed the wall or the ball stopped before they got to it they had to stand on the wall and block other people from being able to hit the wall.If the ball was caught by someone on the wall the person that threw it has to join them.When a football was used you had a good incentive not to be stood against the wall as some of the lads would kick the ball as hard as they could!We played this against the wall of the old gym at Intake which had walls shaped like a capital 'E', we used a wall inside one of the 3 buttress walls, so you had the side walls to bounce the ball against to get it to the end wall. It was a small target from the far end of the playground though! Edit - Ive just noticed how many times the word 'wall' is used in my description!!

We had one very similar called Dancing Dollies, we'd all stand against the wall and move about, there was one person on who had to kick the ball and hit as many as he could.The winner was the last man standing.There was another I can't remember the name of.You were split into two groups, one group came up with a phrase then split up.The second team would then have to hunt them down and get the phrase out of whoever they caught by any means they could ?

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Fri 16 Sep, 2011 8:31 pm

Glax wrote: It`s great reading about some of the old street games which brought so much childhood pleasure.Or rather, it would be if – instead of just naming a game – posters would give some idea how the thing was played!I agree with raveydavey`s comment that different names were used for similar games.Can there, for example, be any confusion over what was my all-time favourite kids` game – Hot Rice, also mentioned by raveydavey and others?In vain I`ve tried describing it to people only to be met with blank looks. At times I thought I was the only person in the world who`d heard of it. I`ve no idea where the name Hot Rice came from, though.I suppose we`re talking of the same game. As I remember it, we need two teams, attackers and defenders, playing with an old tennis ball or a same-size solid sponge ball, Attackers can handle the ball standing still only, passing it around among themselves, angling for the best position from which to chuck it at an individual defender.But they were not allowed to pursue anyone by moving with ball in hand. Once hit by the ball anywhere on body, head or limb, the defender becomes an attacker, and so on until the whole defending team is wiped out. The two teams then swap roles for the next round.The one exception to the "one hit and you`re out" rule is that defenders can choose one fist, left or right, which can block an attacking throw by punching the ball away.To keep everyone honest, a defender has to wrap a handkerchief round the chosen fist to make clear which is his invulnerable hand.I seem to remember that clever defenders could combine their punches to knock the ball some distance away to get a respite, but I think you were "out" if your punch was caught by an attacker before it bounced on the ground.What a game! Exercise, accuracy, planning, teamwork, the excitement of the chase, the inborn love of throwing something at a target, finally being cornered by hordes of opponents with only one fist and a now filthy hanky to save yourself with - wonderful!!!I could have played that game for days on end. Sometimes it seems like we did!Glax Hi Glax!Yep, that is essentially the game we used to play, but with a couple of minor variations.To start the game everyone formed a circle with their feet touching the next persons - a tennis ball was then bounced in the middle with the phrase "hot rice, bounce twice" (it had to bounce twice for some reason) then you used your feet like the flippers on a pinball table to stop the ball going through your legs - get nutmegged and you were "it". However to stop people wellying the ball recklessly, if you hit it out of the circle over someone elses feet, then you were "it". Needless to say, this could get a bit heated!Anyway once the unfortunate "it" had been selected, everyone else scattered, with "it" having to retrieve the ball - at this point "it" was the only attacker so they could run about with the ball - as others were "got" then you couldn't run if you had the ball, but had to pass it to another attacker before you could move.We also allowed the use of either fist to defend yourself. At Braimwood we had a big old playground and above that an even bigger sports field, so games could go on for some time - the last person to be caught was the winner.It sounds horrendously complicated, but it wasn't at all - and it was fantastic fun.I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers it - it's probably been banned today due to elfansafetee...

tilly · Post by **tilly** » Sat 17 Sep, 2011 8:48 am

Does anyone remember makeing match stick guns we used to get a bit of wood from a fire wood bundle.The ones you could buy from a man who came around with a horse and cart.We would take the rubber band from a pop bottle top and put it on the wood about one inch from the end.Then get a hair clip and put it through the rubber band open end pointing down the stick.Then bend the two ends sideways so they would pass either side of the stick when the clip was pulled back.Then we would put a spent match through the loop of the hair clip and pull it back when you let it go it would fire the match for some distance.You could make a trigger by doing the same thing at the other end of the stick and pulling the match back and putting the match in the loop of the other hair clip.Also do you remember tar bombs when it was hot the tar would melt between the stone sets in the street.We would make a small ball of tar and stick live matches into this so only the heads were showing then throw them at a wall they would make a bang you could keep doing this untill all the matches were spent.

jim · Post by **jim** » Sat 17 Sep, 2011 9:37 am

Hi Tilly. I recall making similar matchstick guns,we used a matchbox, a lolly stick, and a rubber band. The matchsticks worked best broken into halves as I recall.

tilly · Post by **tilly** » Sat 17 Sep, 2011 1:56 pm

jim wrote: Hi Tilly. I recall making similar matchstick guns,we used a matchbox, a lolly stick, and a rubber band. The matchsticks worked best broken into halves as I recall. Hi Jim hope you are keeping well. Glad to know you recall the matchstick guns i thought it might have been an Hunslet thing, i think thats why i am quite good at mending things because all the things we had to play with we had to make.Do you remember the tanks made out of cotton reels?

jim · Post by **jim** » Sat 17 Sep, 2011 7:26 pm

Certainly do Tilly. Notches round the reel rims for traction, lolly stick again, strategically placed nails in the end, disc cut from a candle, matchstick and elastic bands as usual.

tilly · Post by **tilly** » Sat 17 Sep, 2011 9:08 pm

jim wrote: Certainly do Tilly. Notches round the reel rims for traction, lolly stick again, strategically placed nails in the end, disc cut from a candle, matchstick and elastic bands as usual. Spot on Jim did not cost as much as a laptop. he. he.

Post by **chameleon** » Sat 17 Sep, 2011 9:49 pm

jim wrote: Certainly do Tilly. Notches round the reel rims for traction, lolly stick again, strategically placed nails in the end, disc cut from a candle, matchstick and elastic bands as usual. Hmmm. always did amaze me just how much cotton there was on a bobbin...... Ouch! Sorry Mum

tilly · Post by **tilly** » Sun 18 Sep, 2011 9:47 am

chameleon wrote: jim wrote: Certainly do Tilly. Notches round the reel rims for traction, lolly stick again, strategically placed nails in the end, disc cut from a candle, matchstick and elastic bands as usual. Hmmm. always did amaze me just how much cotton there was on a bobbin...... Ouch! Sorry Mum Hi chameleon I sometimes feel the kids of today seem to miss out on so much. But when they get to my age they might say the same thing. We seem to spend all our time playing out in the old days it did us no harm.There i go on and on about the past but i am who i am because of my past and would not have it any other way.

Glax · Post by **Glax** » Sun 18 Sep, 2011 5:48 pm

Hi raveydavey, your memories of Hot Rice have cleared up a few doubts of my own.Yes, I`m now sure we too started with one sole attacker who had to be able to move about at first so as to build up his team.I also seem to remember starting off in a circle, though I can`t say which of the thousand and one methods we used to choose the original “it”.In Leeds 9, in those days, our usual home “playground” was among terraced houses with little or no gardens, huge gable ends and cobbled streets – all of which prevented the ball from going too far away.Glax