Ahhh, the Good Old Days: Dodgeball, Monkey Bars, and Other Long-lost Schoolyard Games
Last week, when I picked up my little kids from school, I started asking them questions about their day as usual. Clay complained that school is lame.
“Why is it lame?” I asked.
“Because we don’t do anything fun,” Clay answered in annoyance. “We just have to do work and learn stuff.”
“Oh the horror!” I exclaimed in mock terror. “You have to (gasp) learn things?! In school?! I’ve never heard of such abuse!”
Unperturbed, Clay went on. “Whenever it’s raining, we have to stay inside and play dodgeball.”
“Ugh, I always hated dodgeball,” I admitted. “Nothing like getting a basketball thrown at your head. Ouch!”
“Basketball? We have to use these soft, squishy Nerf balls.”
“Seriously? You use Nerf balls? Ha ha, when I was a kid, we used those red playground balls the size of basketballs, like the kind you use for four square,” I informed my kids. “I bet you guys have never played Butt’s Up either,” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
“What’s Butt’s Up?” Clay asked, curiously.
“It’s a game where you get pelted with tennis balls while you stand against a brick wall. Good times, good times.” With the mention of Dodgeball and Butt’s Up, memories of other school games that are obsolete now came flooding back. Things are so different now. It’s all about safety, and no longer about fun and imagination. I remember being outside, running around the neighborhood with every other kid, all day long until the moms starting ringing the dinner bell and calling kids to come home. We rarely played store-bought games; instead we played at the park and around the neighborhood, making up our own games with nothing but our bikes, some sticks, and our imaginations. And it was GREAT!
So here’s a little walk down my gradeschool memory lane . . .
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Slide of Death
Remember when all playgrounds had a Slide of Death? They were twice the height of the slides we have today and they were made of metal. More than once, I scorched the backs of my legs, leaving a layer of skin behind. But the second degree burns were so totally worth the thrill of the ride (even if I was always scared half to death I was going to fall off those metal steps!)
photo: Dawn Meehan -
Bamboo Poles
Back when I was in gym class (before it was called P.E., it was known simply as "gym"), we played a game wherein two people tapped bamboo poles alternately on the floor and against each other. The kids would take turns jumping between the clicking poles. Our ankles were bloody, bruised stumps by the end of class. But we wore those bruises as a badge of honor even if we couldn't figure out the purpose of the game.
photo: Anita -
Hamster Wheel
These things were the best! You'd run around the inside of the barrel like a hamster while getting splinters all over your hands. And heaven forbid you fall because you'd be trampled by your friends as they continued to turn the wheel!
photo: Claire Amelia -
Clackers
Remember these? I had a pair of pink and green clackers that I got in my Easter basket one year. I LOVED these things! Of course, my arm was perpetually blue and purple for an entire year. The poor kids today don't get to experience the joy of toys that can double as dangerous weapons and/or shatter in your face.
photo: Pinterest user Frank Chang -
Gym Class Rope Climb
I still have nightmares about this. I never could climb to the top of the rope in gym class, much to the chagrin of Miss Yingst, the gym teacher. What can I say? I have the upper body strength of a gerbil.
photo: morguefile -
The Merry-Go-Round
A bunch of kids sat on the merry-go-round and hung on for dear life while one or more kids grabbed hold and ran around with it until there was enough centrifugal force to fling a child overboard and/or make someone puke. After getting the merry-go-round up to maximum speed, the runner would oftentimes try to jump on and Lord help him if he didn't make it because he would be dragged through the dirt, holes being ripped in his Toughskins because, for some reason, the kid never thought to let go of the moving ride. Ahhh, the good ole days!
photo: morguefile -
Dodgeball
The aforementioned Dodgeball played with a basketball or those red playground balls. I sucked at this game because I throw like a girl and have the aim of a blind person on an acid trip. Maybe that's why I was always chosen last for teams.
photo: morguefile -
Springy Things
I don't know if these things have an official name. Little kids would sit on these and shake their bodies until they had intracranial bleeding in an attempt to get it to rock back and forth. Big kids, on the other hand, would simply lean forward and the animal would dip so far down, the kid would be eating a mouthful of gravel.
photo: morguefile -
Metal Monkey Bars
All parks had these play structures and they were always positioned over concrete, asphalt, or gravel (none of those safe wood chips or soft, squishy stuff they use these days, no siree). On metal play structures like these is where kids learned all their awesome gymnastics skills (and broke more than one bone).
photo; morguefile -
Scooter
Once upon a time, this is what a scooter looked like and it was a good day when the gym teacher pulled these babies out! So what if a student suffered a broken finger every time we used them? It was totally worth the thrill of flying 0.4 miles an hour across the gym floor, powered by nothing but our Keds.
photo: Duck, Duck, Gray Duck
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The bamboo pole thing is called tinikling. It’s basically Philippine jump-roping, but with bamboo poles instead of a jump rope.
I can’t believe you didn’t mention tetherball? Someone always lost part of their anatomy in a really good game.
I must be older than you, though, because I never saw springy thingies and hamster wheels until the mid-80s, by which time I was having kids myself and was too old to partake.
I miss real merry go rounds.
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We used to have a giant concrete tube/tunnel thing that some kid slid off of every year and cracked his or her head open.
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When explaining the old balls used for dodgeball to my kids, I call them the red balls of death. I once got hit in the face and had my retainers knocked out by a red ball of death. One of the most embarrassing moments of my life. Good times, good times.
I remeber a park i n Barrigngton… it had the hamster wheel. That was the best park ever!
We lived across the street from a playground growing up and it had one of those Slides of Death. We used to make it more “fun” by sliding down on waxed paper a few times so it was so super slippery that you basically shot right off the end! Ah, memories!
Our local park still has the Slide of Death, metal monkey bars, metal merry-go-round, and springy things. My 3 year old loves the Slide of Death. It amuses me that all my friends who used to join me in flipping over the top bar of the slide before sliding down are now campaigning to have the slide removed because it is dangerous. We also used to slide down the metal support poles, and some brave souls would jump from the top. It certainly was good times.
My dad was a junior high gym teacher. We used the red playground balls for everything. And the scooters were officially called “gym dollies.” There truly was no way to avoid getting your fingers run over before crashing head-first into the cinder block gymnasium wall because you didn’t know how to stop.
hey we used to have those really tall swing sets too where you felt like you were about to enter orbit when you got really flying!
Kids today have no fun :D
I can’t believe Butt’s Up is a real game! My husband has described it to me before and I told him that it was a made up game that no one besides his friends had ever played! I’m not about to tell him I was wrong :)
Our local park just removed the wonderful metal slide (it wasn’t super tall)… we are sad.
Oh gosh, this makes me think of “Red Rover.” Where they divide the gym class up into two lines, one one either side of the room, with the kids linking arms. And then you go “Red Rover, red rover, we dare [insert name of child about to be injured] to come over!” And whoever they call has to run across and try to break through the line of kids. And either the kid would break through, and whoever they broke through would be hurt, or the kids linking arms would push back, knocking the runner right down, often smacking their head on the gym floor. I remember being in second grade thinking “Really? Is this really a good idea for us to be playing this?” Hahahahaha!
I remember a game that I used to play with ladybugs…there were tons of ladybugs back in my day that my friends and I would catch one and “claim” it then we would use them to “race” on the school wall at recess….if it flew away; you were out. My boys told me they still have those scooters at their school but they don’t have those ropes there anymore and were keen on the slide of death..they wanted to try that. I miss the merry o round but we have one similar to it but it’s netted around so no one can fall out.
I loved dodgeball! That was one of my favorite things to do in PE.
I also loved those tall metal slides. I haven’t seen one of those in ages. I remember when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade one of my friends fell off the top of the slide and cracked her head open. A boy had a spider in his hand and went to the top to scare her when she was getting ready to go down. She got scared and went right over the side.
My sister and I were reminiscing about Clackers several weeks ago ~ they were one of our favorite toys. I thought it would be fun to try to find some to give her for Christmas. Found one listing on ebay and the crazy things were selling for $28!! Would still love to find some but I’m not sure she’s worth that much ~ ha!
I had clackers that when they banged together, it sparked. Every time I talk to someone else about it they never had/heard of ones that sparked, to the point that I think I might have made it up. We saw some at the county fair last month, no sparks lol.
You are so right! We played with ALL of these. And we didn’t die…and we ran until we were tired. My mom used the car horn to call us in. We could hear it anywhere in the neighborhood. SO sad that kids dont have the “advantages” we did!
My girls have played with most of that just this year, including tether ball as mentioned in the comments. We take a much less helicopter view to parenting, and I’m glad my girls have had the chance to take risks, play hard, and be kids.
I can’t believe nobody mentioned the maypole…..we would unravel a bit of the rope on the bottom…insert our wrist and run as fast as possible then jump to catch as much air as possible
We played a game in gym class called Crab Socker. Basically you sat on the floor, raised your bum off the floor and “crab walked” around on your hands and feet while kicking this giant, soft cloth ball into a goal. It was a game guaranteed to result in stepped on, smashed fingers, kicks to the crotch and knees. One kid got kicked in the face.
Does anyone remember “prison ball”? I thought that was the best! Anyways I am a 37yr old father of a 12 yr old and have come to a realization that my son will never get to enjoy growing up the way most of us and past generations have because now everyone has to be safe. For every incident were one kid hurt himself the other millions now have to pay the price. Main reason being that nobody seems to know the phrase “thats to bad”. Everybody though seems to be more concerned with “lets make sure that never happens again”. Which with all great intentions ends up making sure that never happens again by taking that option of activity completely away! I kinda came to tears looking back at all those playground activities and realizing my son will never have the laughs and tears and fun that all of us past generations had :(
It was on the Slide of Death that I learned I have vertigo. My favorite version of the slide of death was the one that had a metal house on the top and sliding/ climbing pole off to the side where you had to either have long legs or jump to reach.
My other favorite playground was the wooden castle the local charter school allowed everyone to use. It took up an entire field, had turrents, rope ladders, rope cargo laders, bridges, and monkey bars. You could always tell the girls who didn’t want to play Castle or GI Joe because they had sunburn patterns from the latticework “curtains”, but the rest of us came back sweaty, gross, and bloodied but grinning ear to ear.
what about wall-ball – that game was the best!!
Anyone remember the giant strike? I never saw one accept at our little school.
I had a Jingle Jump (mid to late 60s) which you fastened to one ankle and swung it around and jumped it with the other foot. May have caused a few falls but sure kept you in shape and improved your agility.
Monkey Bars always ruled! Reaching top and hanging upside down by the ankles-way cool! My park had flat wooden swings with metal casing, The best of us were able to reach the tree branches at full swing. We had concrete late covered by some rubber stuff. Fun, but no injuries. Our “slide of death” was just a fast ride, but always enjoyable.