Playground Games By Region: What It Was Called Where You Grew Up

Playground games are passed on entirely by children, which is why they have dozens of names and no written rules. The dividing lines are often sharper than county borders.

Here's what the main ones were called where you grew up.

The chasing game

• Tig - the north, Scotland and much of the Midlands.
• Tag - the south, and spreading everywhere through television.
• Tick - parts of the north west and the Black Country.
• Dobby - Merseyside and parts of Lancashire.
• It, or 'on it' - widespread, and usually the word used when the local name is forgotten.
• Had, hadda, chasey, catchy - scattered local names, mostly fading.

Hide and seek with a base

• Forty forty, or forty forty home - London, the south and the south east.
• Block one two three - the north west and parts of Ireland.
• Relievo, relieve-o, relievio - the north east, Scotland and Ireland.
• Kick the can - widespread, and the version with a can as the base.
• Tin can tommy, mob, hide and seek home - local versions of the same thing.

Knocking on doors

• Knock down ginger - London and the south east.
• Chappy, chap door run - Scotland.
• Cherry knocking - the Midlands.
• Knocky nine doors, nicky nine doors - the north east and Ireland.
• Thundering - parts of Wales.
• Knock and run, ring and run - everywhere else.

The truce term - the word you shout to be out

• This is the sharpest regional divide of the lot, and linguists have mapped it for a century.
• Fainites, fains, fainlights - London and the south east.
• Barley, barleys - the north, Scotland and the north west.
• Kings, kingsy - the Midlands and parts of the north.
• Crosses, crosskeys - the east and parts of the south west.
• Scribs, scrogs, screams, exes, pax, jecks - dozens of others, tightly local.
• Truce terms were used for a moment's pause - a shoelace, a stitch - with fingers crossed or a hand raised.

The other regional splits

• The alley, the jigger, the ginnel, the snicket, the twitten, the entry - the narrow passage between houses where half of this took place.
• Kerby, kerbs, kerbie, curby - the street ball game.
• Elastics, French skipping, Chinese ropes, elastic skipping.
• Duck duck goose, duck duck grey duck, and the various sitting circle games.
• The bread roll debate has nothing to do with playgrounds and starts just as many arguments.

Why the names vary so much

• Nothing was ever written down. Every generation of children learned it from the generation two years above.
• Words travelled at walking pace. A school three miles away could have a different truce term.
• Iona and Peter Opie collected thousands of these in the 1950s and 60s and their work is still the best record we have.
• Television flattened it - tag is replacing tig, and ding dong ditch is replacing every local name at once.
• None of the versions is wrong. Yours is just the one you had.

Shop cards

How to write it so it lands

• None of them is the wrong name.
• The truce term is the sharpest divide of all.
• Iona and Peter Opie collected the lot in the fifties. Worth a read.

Where to shop next

• Knock down ginger: the names for it
• Kerby rules
• British Bulldog rules
• Stuck in the mud and tig games
• What's the time, Mr Wolf?
• Hopscotch rules and grids
• Marbles rules and terms
• Conkers rules
• Hide and seek variations
• Forty forty and block one two three
• Wall ball and two-ball
• Playground games banned by schools
• Wet playtime indoor games
• Rhymes for picking who's it
• Playground games we all played
• Clapping games and skipping rhymes
• Traditional British party games
• Free feel good tools
• Shop cards
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Birthday cards for kids
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

Is it tig or tag?

Both, depending on where you grew up. Tig is the northern, Scottish and Midlands name, tag the southern one, with tick and dobby used in parts of the north west. Tag is gradually spreading everywhere through television.

What is a truce term?

The word you shout with your fingers crossed to be temporarily out of a game - fainites in London, barley in the north and Scotland, kings in the Midlands, crosses in the east. It's one of the sharpest regional divides in British English.

What's the difference between forty forty and block 123?

None - it's the same base-and-hide game with a different call. Forty forty is southern, block one two three is north western and Irish, and relievo is the north eastern, Scottish and Irish name.

Why do playground games have so many names?

Because nothing was ever written down. Children learned them from other children, so the words travelled at walking pace and a school three miles away could use completely different ones.

Do you sell games or play equipment?

No - we make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK. Every game here needs a wall, a ball, a piece of chalk or nothing at all, and the only products on this page are our own cards.