Colonial Games for America's Birthday Party
Happy Fourth of July to all! Some of you might be spending the holiday with your grandchildren. Since the Fourth of July is really a big birthday party, games are definitely in order. This is a great opportunity to introduce the kids to some of the ways that children used to entertain themselves when the U.S. was born, 232 years ago. Games in those days taught children skills like how to aim and throw, how to solve problems, how to do things with their hands, and how to follow directions and rules. They also learned to be fair, to wait their turn, and to use their imaginations. The following is a list of games that colonial children played:
Some games, like Jacks, Jump Rope, Yo-Yos, and Marbles can be picked up inexpensively in most convenience stores. Others like London Bridge, Hop Scotch, and Leap Frog need no supplies, just your energy to explain and model them. You can explain to your grandchildren that colonial children had to make do with what they had. There were no factories for making toys or toy stores. Toys had to be found in nature or in the house, or adults and children had to make them. Show them that they can still do that today by following these directions to make a cup and ball game with simple household items.
For more on Enlightened Grandparenting visit Nona Nita's Nook
and click My Path Productions for ideas that support conscious living .
- Jacks
- Jump Rope
- Yo-Yo
- Hopscotch
- Bubble-Blowing
- Marbles
- Pick Up Sticks
- London Bridge
- Spinning Tops
- Leap Frog
- Cups and Balls
Some games, like Jacks, Jump Rope, Yo-Yos, and Marbles can be picked up inexpensively in most convenience stores. Others like London Bridge, Hop Scotch, and Leap Frog need no supplies, just your energy to explain and model them. You can explain to your grandchildren that colonial children had to make do with what they had. There were no factories for making toys or toy stores. Toys had to be found in nature or in the house, or adults and children had to make them. Show them that they can still do that today by following these directions to make a cup and ball game with simple household items.
- Gather a Styrofoam coffee cup, a 12-inch length of yarn and a 6-inch length of aluminum foil
- Have an adult stick a steak knife through the bottom of the Styrofoam cup to make a slice about one inch long.
- Push one end of the string through the slice. Knot it inside the cup.
- Lay the other side of the string in the middle of the aluminum foil and then crumble it all around the end of the string into a ball. The string should attach inside tightly by doing this.
- Demonstrate how to try to catch the ball in the cup.
For more on Enlightened Grandparenting visit Nona Nita's Nook
and click My Path Productions for ideas that support conscious living .
Oh this brings back memories!
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These are great ideas!
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