Playground games we all played

Playground games were passed down orally, which is why nobody can agree on the rules and every school played a slightly wrong version.

Twenty-five below, with the rules as most of the country played them. If yours were different, yours were also correct - that's how these things work.

Chasing games

• British Bulldog - one bulldog in the middle, everyone runs across, anyone caught joins the middle. Banned at roughly half of all schools by 1994.
• Tig (or tag, or it, or dobby) - one on, touch someone, they're on. The name changed every thirty miles.
• Stuck in the mud - tigged players freeze with legs apart until someone crawls through. The most exhausting game ever devised.
• Chain tig - everyone caught joins hands with the catcher. Ends in a twelve-child chain that can't turn corners.
• Off-ground tig - you're safe if your feet are off the ground. Benches, walls and one unlucky bin.
• Kiss chase - the game teachers hated most and children played anyway.
• 40-40 in - hide and seek with a home base and a shouted claim. Also known as 'block' or 'forty forty'.
• Red rover - two lines, call someone over, they charge the joined arms. Also usually banned, also usually played.

Ball and kerb games

• Kerby - throw the ball at the opposite kerb, score if it bounces back to you. The finest street game there is.
• Wall ball (or 'sevens') - a tennis ball, a wall and a numbered sequence of throws, claps and turns.
• Queenie - back turned, throw the ball behind you, guess who caught it.
• Piggy in the middle - two throwers, one desperate person in the middle.
• Wembley (or Cuppy) - everyone against one keeper, score to progress a round. Ends with two people and a grudge.
• Headers and volleys - keeper plus everyone, only headers and volleys count. Whoever concedes goes in goal.
• Donkey - throw the ball at the wall, drop it and you get a letter. Spell donkey, you're out.

Skipping, elastics and clapping

• French elastics - two people, one long loop of elastic, ankles then knees then waist. Chanting mandatory.
• Double dutch - two ropes turning in opposite directions. Only about four people per school could do it.
• Skipping rhymes - 'Cinderella dressed in yella' and countless regional variants counted you out.
• A sailor went to sea sea sea - the clapping game everyone can still do twenty-five years later.
• Under the bram bush - the other clapping game, with rules nobody could explain.
• Cat's cradle - a loop of wool, two pairs of hands and a series of shapes.

Everything else

• Conkers - horse chestnut, shoelace, one strike each. Soaking them in vinegar was cheating and everybody did it.
• Hopscotch - chalk, a stone, and a numbered grid. Still the best use of a paving slab.
• Marbles - keepsies or friendlies, and everyone knew which one you meant.
• Pogs and milk caps - stack, slam, keep what lands face up. The 1995 economy in miniature.
• Jacks - a bouncy ball and metal pieces, scoop up in increasing numbers.

Playing them today

• Kerby needs a quiet cul-de-sac, not a main road. That's the only change worth making.
• For conkers, keep it to one strike each and stop when a conker breaks. The old playground rules were fine.
• Chalk on a driveway costs about two pounds and buys a whole summer of hopscotch.
• Teach one clapping game to a child and it will travel round their entire school within a fortnight.
• Milestone birthday parties love these: a 40th with kerby and elastics beats a bought entertainer.

Shop funny cards

Cards for the occasion

Blank inside, designed in house, posted first class.

Bits for the party

Banners, cake toppers and confetti that are actually in stock.

How to write it so it lands

• Write down your school's version of the rules. Every version is different and none are recorded anywhere.
• These make excellent milestone birthday party games for anyone turning 40 or 50.
• A bag of chalk, a tennis ball and a long loop of elastic covers about eight of these games.

Where to shop next

• Old fashioned party games
• Playground games we all played
• Classic British pub games
• Family card games
• Rainy day activities
• Garden games for a party
• Growing up in the 80s and 90s
• Nostalgic quiz questions
• Party supplies
• Work party ideas
• Celebration ideas
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas

Frequently asked questions

What are the rules of British Bulldog?

One player in the middle, everyone else runs from one end to the other. Anyone caught joins the middle. The last one uncaught wins and goes first next round.

What is kerby?

Two players stand at opposite kerbs and throw a ball at the far kerb. A clean hit that bounces back to you scores; miss and it's the other player's turn.

Why were playground games like British Bulldog banned?

Injury rates in the 1980s and 90s. Most schools replaced them with tamer chasing games, though the rules survived in playgrounds anyway.