Ancient Kids Games

Games with Balls

• Ball games were very popular in ancient times. Balls were usually made out of leather and stuffed with cloth or wool. Some balls were made from animal intestines. In classical Athens, children played a game similar to field hockey using curved sticks and a ball, according to HistoryforKids.org. The Ancient Chinese played a football game called Cuju. It was a competitive match between two teams with a goal on either end. The game could also be played individually or with a partner without the goals.

  The Mayans played Pok-a-tok, according to KidsPast.com. In this game, they used a rubber ball about the size of a basketball. The object was to hit the ball into a stone hoop without using their hands to pick up the ball. The ball was bounced off leather shields that covered the players' arms, legs and chest.

Marbles

• Almost every culture in history has played some type of game using marbles. Ancient marbles were usually made out of stone or clay. In Australia, the Bounce Eye marble game was created by early settlers, according to KultureKids.org. The players would start by drawing a circle. Each person starts with the same number of marbles and places at least one marble in the circle. The person whose turn it is then drops their marble into the circle. Any marbles that are knocked out of the circle become that players. The idea is to end up with the most marbles.

Board Games

• The Chinese created a board game called Go, which is similar to a popular board game played today called Othello. Board games were very popular in Chinese, Greek, Roman and Egyptian ancient cultures. In Egypt, the board game Senet was very popular. This two-player game was played with sticks instead of dice. Players would throw the sticks and move their pieces according to the number of sticks that were facing upright. The first player to move all his pieces off the board was declared the winner.

Tug of War

• Ancient Egyptians played tug of war without rope. According to KultureKids.org, there were two teams divided into the same number of players. The team leader would stand in front of their team and clasp arms with the other team's leader. Each team then pulls, until one team pulls the other team over or knocks the other team down.

Other Games

• Ancient Greek children also liked to play with marbles, dice and juggle balls. Romans were very competitive and races were very popular. Other games include flying kites, sailing toy boats, making dolls out of clay and playing with beads and tops.