Games Kids Used to Play

Hopscotch

• Hopscotch is played by drawing the hopscotch board on concrete with chalk or even scratching it in the dirt with a stick. A hopscotch board varies in the number of squares it has, but the squares are typically numbered. Players toss a stone or other object and hop to the stone's destination. This game has been a favorite of little girls and boys for centuries.

Hide and Seek

• Hide and Seek can be played almost anywhere, without any preparation. Hide and Seek involves one player who closes his eyes while everyone else hides, then the player, after counting to a specified number, has to seek out the other players.

Tag

• Typically, the game is played with a home or "safe." Players scatter while one player (the player who is "it") chases down the other players and tries to tag them before they can reach home base safely. If a player is tagged, that player becomes "it" and has to tag the other children.

Board Games

• Before computer games, board games such as Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, Operation and Battleship were popular for kids and family night fun. Many of these board games have never gone away. Several of them have found their way into computer versions that are still enjoyed today.

Early Video Games

• Before the more advanced video games of recent years, kids entertained themselves with early versions of video games played on Atari systems. These games included Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Frogger and Donkey Kong. These games, and many of the early classics, have been modernized for more advanced gaming systems.