“Life is more fun if you play games.”
We have rain, but the day is still warm. I consider anything over 50˚ warm. Gracie balked at going out this morning, but I told her to bite the bullet and she did and went out. I can’t remember the last time I heard anyone say bite the bullet but oddly enough it was a fill-in for the Globe crossword puzzle this morning. Strange coincidence.
We played outside all summer. In the cooler afternoons we usually played whole group games on the grass behind our houses. Anybody could play. Other than in red rover, age and size made no difference. It was the only time the big kids and the little kids played together.
Olly olly oxen free meant we could get out of hiding as somebody else had been found and was now it. The seeker was always called it. I have no idea why. Both were just parts of the game of hide and seek. I did look it up this morning out of curiosity and I found the all call possibly originates from the German phrase “alle alle auch sind frei,” which loosely translated means “everyone is also free.” Mispronunciation by non-German children probably became “olly olly oxen free.” It doesn’t make sense but we never noticed. Olly olly oxen free was just what you said.
We also played red rover. The key was in picking the right team. The stronger the team, the better the chances. We’d stand in a line holding hands or even arm to arm and call the other team, “Red rover, red rover send Kat right over.” My job would be to break through the line. If I didn’t, they got me for their team. If I got through, my team got someone from theirs. I always looked for the weakest link, the smallest kid. We all did.
We also played stair ball or stoop ball if you lived in the city. Your team was spread into the street. The batter, loosely used here to designate a position, threw the rubber ball against the steps. He was out if it was caught but got bases if it went over the fielders’ heads. The problem was deciding how many bases the hit was worth. We used the stairs at the end of our walkway. They led to the street. They were perfect for stair ball.
Blind man’s bluff was another game we played. The person who was it got blindfolded. The game was really tag with a twist. It was never easy though we were limited about moving. We sometimes talked, and that gave away our position.
It’s amazing that the games are played just like their names, other than red rover and maybe Simon says. Dodgeball and kickball are other games whose names tells you right away the object of the games, the same with follow the leader.
I noticed that rock-paper-scissors has been used lately on TV. It was our favorite way to make decisions when I was a kid. I remember if I lost I always wanted two out of three. Big surprise, the winner always said no.
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This entry was posted on April 17, 2015 at 11:44 am and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: hide and seeker's rover, Olly olly oxen free, playing outside, rain, red rover red rover, rock-paper-scissors, stoop ball, warm day, you're it
Both comments and pings are currently closed.8 Comments on ““Life is more fun if you play games.””
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
April 17, 2015 at 12:26 pm
WE had much the same games here but we never said anything like olly olly oxen free 🙂 We just kept on looking until all was found, the first one found was of course the next it. I’ve heard about Red Rover but never played it.
Blind mans bluuf is called blindbock (blind buck, I have no idea how a buck can be a part of the name though) here and follow the leader is called follow John. Our big game was Brännboll (burn ball) very close to baseball actually and very fun no matter how old one was. We only played dodge ball at gymnastics at school. We all liked it so I don’t know why we never played it outside school 🙂
Strong winds and sunshine but allso heavy showers here today, it makes the grass happy so I can’t avoid mowing the lawn this weekend 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
April 17, 2015 at 12:38 pm
Christer,
We stopped the round as soon as another person became it then we started all over again. Red rover was fun but your arms sometimes felt achy.
I like the name follow John. It’s more fun than follow the leader. How do you play Brännboll? Can varied ages play it together?
It is raining here now as it has been since the early morning, maybe earlier but I wasn’t awake. It has been threatening rain the last few days. I always think spring should have a lot of rain getting ready for summer and the heat.
Have a great evening!
April 18, 2015 at 12:28 am
Since there are no official rules in Brännboll it can vary but this Wikipedia page sums it up rather good: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brännboll
Yes varied ages can play it together so it is important to plan in what order one should place the batmen. It isn’t allowed to pass anyone batting before you on the way around the base’s but I’ve never heard a rule that says You’re not allowed to carry the onea ahead of you 🙂 So it’s good to have a big person batting after a small one 🙂 This is all just for fun and just since we use a bouncy ball, like a tennis ball and never plays on a flat surface one never knows how the ball will bounce so even the tiniest kid can with a bit of luck make a home run 🙂
April 18, 2015 at 10:46 am
Christer,
It sounds fun and so arbitrary. The positions of the bases are interesting and I find having no pitcher the best part. Nobody strikes out.
Thanks!
April 17, 2015 at 1:16 pm
Hi Kat,
I always said “Ally ally outs in free”.
I think we played Red Rover a couple of times but I don’t remember how we played it. The other game we played was Simon Says. There was another game that involved throwing up a ball and calling out a color and someone would catch it but I don’t remember the rules. I only remember the game because once my father played with us and he called out Skyblue pink. We weren’t sure what to do with that so play was halted. 🙂
Most of the time we made up our group games. We played Indians or Cowboys. Never both together. We played badminton in the street. No net. Just bat it back and forth as long as possible. We played tackle toss-up football without goal lines and no points. Whoever got the ball just rand until the rest of us dragged him down. We played baseball in the empty lot. The littles had to be the peanut gallery. Any ball that went over Flanagans privet hedge was a HR.
Rainy and cool up here. I threw some grass seed down mostly because it was leftover from last season so no loss if it doesn’t grow. I’m hoping there’s enough rain to water it in so I won’t have to. 🙂
Enjoy the day.
April 17, 2015 at 3:43 pm
Hi Caryn,
Did you ever wonder what it meant? We also played Simon says. Sometimes in the house my mother would play with us and always got us to do want Simon didn’t say. I don’t know the color game, but we also played ball in the parking lot at the top of the hill.
Rainy here most of the day, but it has since stopped. My grass is beginning to look green. Tons of hyacinths have bloomed. They are all different colors and lovely.
Have a great rest of the day!
April 17, 2015 at 1:33 pm
I can’t remember that we ever called “alle alle auch sind frei”. Either it’s too old or regional or a rumor or my memory fails. Can’t even find the phrase on German websites, just on English websites. Among other games we also played rock-paper-scissors and blind man’s bluff which is called blind cow over here. No Simon and rarely something like red rover. Only one relevant street ball game, I think you can guess which one.
April 17, 2015 at 3:45 pm
Birgit,
That came from wikipedia but who knows the source of that entry. We only used rock-paper-scissors for decision making or who might be captain when we played ball.
Blind cow is kinder than blind man’s bluff.
The street ball game is an easy guess!