I am taking a walk down memory lane today... perhaps this is a sign that I am getting old already?

I remember these are some of my favourite games during my Primary school days:

Paper Dolls


Figures are cut out of paper (usually in card form) and the different sets of clothings (plus accessories) have tabs attached to them so that they could be held onto the dolls.




Five Stones

Most of the time, my mother made them. She will fill the pieces of cloth with beans and stitch them up. Viola! Now you have your own set of Five Stones.

To Play: The player tosses the single stone into the air and makes an attempt to pick up one of the stones on the ground and catches the other stone that was tossed all with the same hand. The player repeats this until all stones have been picked up. Next round, the player will throw down four of the stones, throws the single stone in the air and attempts to pick up two stones this time before catching the tossed stone with the same hand. It then proceeds to the next round where the process is repeated for three stones...then all four stones are picked up.

Rubber Band Rope Jumping

You need lots of rubber bands to do this. Loop them together with one another and a rope is formed. Two persons will stand opposite each other, each holding the end of the rope. They will start with lowering the rope on the ground while the player will jump across it, then the rope is raised to different levels: ankle, knee, waist, shoulder and finally the head as the level of jumping gets higher and higher.

Hopscotch

Draw the patterns on the floor with a piece of chalk. Throw a stone inside square 1. Then, starting with square 1, you have to hop into each square and end in square eight. (For squares 4 and 5; 7 and 8, you have to jump landing with one foot in each square). When you reach squares 7 and 8, you have to turn back and jump again until square 1. Then, you continue to throw the stone inside square 2 and the process repeats until the stone reaches square 8. (Note: The player has to skip the square where the stone is placed though.)

Gosh, how I missed these games! Sadly, I think the kids today play too much computer games, and I don't think they will understand the joy of playing these 'traditional' games which we used to play during our times. Now all I can say is, time really flies and things change.