When We Were Young - Toys and Games Quiz

Answer: Fly

Kids took part in playing Fly, simply by lining up behind each other and taking turns to take steps between the sticks. The first few rounds were easy, and, when the last person took his or her turn, the last stick was moved out to where his or her back leg landed. Then we all turned round and jumped back the other way. That way the spaces between each stick grew larger...and larger...and l..a..r..g..e..r. If you took more than one space between the sticks, you moved up to having to take two steps each time between them - and then on to three steps. Once you took more than three steps, out you went until only the winner remained.

(Question and additional information submitted by Creedy)

Answer: Jumping rope

Jumping or skipping rope was a favorite recess activity, and we had several rhymes to keep track of how many jumps we accomplished before we missed and were out. I was especially proud when I learn to jump Double Dutch which uses two turning ropes. The origins of jump roping are a bit unclear - ancient Egyptians, Australian aborigines, maybe the Chinese, but today it has gone far beyond the playground and is now an organized competitive sport.

(Question and additional information submitted by unterkircher)

Answer: Jacks

The game consists of a small rubber ball and ten metal or plastic jacks. The jacks are thrown on to a flat surface. The first up in the game will toss the ball in the air, pick up a jack with the same hand, and catch the ball when it rebounds off the surface. This is called a "onesie". The game is repeated until all ten jacks are picked up. The jacks are then thrown back down again and this time you have to pick up two jacks (twosies) at a time. The game is completed and the winner crowned when all ten jacks (tensies) are picked up in one hand. If you fail to catch the ball or the ball bounces more than once then the next player has a turn.

(Question and additional information submitted by Plodd)

Answer: Knuckles

As 'interesting information' it can only be termed as painful. Each took it in turn to strike like a cobra and suddenly smack down with his clenched fist on the others knuckles. You could avoid it by a simultaneous backward retreat, but if you did that ahead of the 'strike' then the other guy got to have another go. If folk wonder why such a small nation in terms of population is so successful in competitive sports, well it probably all started in the playground.

(Question and additional information submitted by Airmale)

Answer: Hopscotch

There are many variations of this game all around the world. In Canada it was usually played on the sidewalk. To play hopscotch you needed to draw ten squares in various patterns with chalk or with a stick if you were playing it on a dirt surface. The first player tosses the marker into the first square. The marker must land completely within the designated square and without touching a line or bouncing out. The player then hops through the course, skipping the square with the marker in it. Upon successfully completing the sequence, the player continues the turn by tossing the marker into square number two, and repeating the pattern. If while hopping through the course
the player steps on a line, misses a square, or loses balance, the turn ends. Players begin their turns where they last left off. The first player to complete one course for every numbered square on the course wins the game.

(Question and interesting information submitted by Eastenders01)

Answer: Red Rover

This childhood game is also called Forcing the City Gates and Octopus Tag and may have started in Great Britain. A couple of rules about the game said teammates could only link hand-to-hand, not hand-to-wrist or hand-to-arm, and that joined hands could not be raised in order to "clothesline" an opponent's throat.

(Question and interesting information submitted by Unterkircher)

Answer: Yo-yo

You could do all sorts of tricks with a yo-yo once you mastered the trick of keeping it continually in motion. These included "Walk the Dog" and "Round the World" and so on. Playing with the yo-yo was great fun. It could also be highly competitive sometimes if matched up against friends during school recess time and after school to see who could keep his or her yo-yo going the longest.

(Question and interesting information submitted by Creedy)

Answer: Hula Hoop

The Hula Hoop has been a type of play and exercise since approximately 500BC, although many people think, wrongly, it was invented in the 1950s. Various materials have been used throughout the years, including dried willow and rattan. In the last fifty years, plastic has normally been used.
Twirling the Hula Hoop is a great way of keeping fit....I just wish I could perform as well now as when I was twelve years old!

(Question and interesting information submitted by veronicavee)

Answer: Leap Frog

Leap Frog is a game we often played at school. The idea is for a line of children to stoop over and allow a another child to vault over them. The person vaulting would leap over the line of children and then stoop down at the finish to carry the line on. The child at the other end would set off and do the same. I, of course was easy to vault over, always being very small! The trouble came for me when I had to vault...

(Question and interesting information submitted by peewee2)

Answer: Clackers

This toy was a favorite in the 1970s and many a knuckle was left bruised and battered from practicing the Clackers. The two hard plastic balls hung from two strings that came off a small ring tab, were about 3cm in circumference and with a slowing starting up and down motion the balls would clack together above and then below the hand, and as you got faster the balls clacked louder (and hurt harder) making the noise almost unbearable.

(Question and additional information by Lorstrivia)