1. I’m the King of the Castle! Playground Rules and Special Words
2. Who said the rhyme did the crime Rhymes for special occasions
3. Made you Look... Threats and taunts
4. Eeny, meeny Starting a game and choosing sides
5. You can’t catch me! Chasing Games
6. Ring a Ring a Roses Singing Games
7. Lou, lou, skip to the Lou Skipping
8. Catch as catch can Ball-bouncing games
9. If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands Clapping
10. It’s all in the game Other games
11. Just gotta have it Crazes
12. When You Wish Upon a Star Lucky Charms and Superstitions
13. Turn to the East, turn to the West Other Rituals
14. Remember, remember the fifth of November Special Days
15. Any more for any more? Any Other Information

Nowadays, if children need to retie their shoelaces or get their breath back, they’re quite likely to make a ‘Time Out’ sign with their hands, which looks like a T. Previous generations would shout truce words like 'pax', 'barley' or ‘fainites’. If you wanted to take a breather from a game, was there a special word you would have said or sign you would have made?

What did you do if you wanted to claim something as yours before anyone else got to it (for example, if you were running for the swings and wanted to make sure you got the first go)?

Were there any other words or phrases that gave you the power or the right to do something?

Did you have any rhymes about school or the teachers?

Did you have any rhymes that you would sing at certain times of the year, for example when school broke up?

Children aren’t always nice to each other. And quite often they come up with particularly inventive ways of attacking each other. Fortunately, however, there are similarly creative ways to defend yourself. Sticks and stones might break your bones, but what words were used to hurt you?

And how did you defend yourself?

Once you and your friends decided what you were going to play, the next step would be to pick teams, or choose who’s going to be ‘it’. Sometimes this is called ‘Dipping’ –what was it called in your school?

What was the rhyme or the method you’d use to pick a team?

And how did you pick who was going to be ‘it’?

You can’t catch me!
Chasing Games

Most children spend a lot of their time running around all over the place, but sometimes they’re not just running about willy-nilly – there are rules. What did you call the game where one person has to catch the other people who are playing?

What were the rules of this game?

There are versions of this game that are extremely complicated: perhaps there’s more than one person doing the chasing, or maybe the chasers have to hold hands. If you ever played a complicated chasing game, what was it called?

And what were the rules?

Of course, there are children who prefer slightly more sedate activities such as singing games. Quite often these are played in circles or lines, and almost all of them have actions to go with the words. What songs did you sing?

And what actions went with your songs?

The regular rhythm provided by the thwack of a skipping rope on the ground is the perfect accompaniment to all sorts of different rhymes. What skipping rhymes did you sing?

Could you do any tricks, like cross your arms over as you skipped or swing the skipping rope around your head before jumping back into the rhythm?

What were your tricks called?

And what qualities made for a really good skipping rope?

Long-rope skipping could be very different to solo skipping – different rhymes, different names. And you could even play a version with two ropes going at the same time. What did you call the people who turned the rope or ropes?

Where there any rhymes that were specific to long-rope skipping?

Or any tricks? What were they called?

As well as skipping with one rope or two, on your own or in groups, there can be subtle variations of the theme using, for example, a long loop of elastic. If you played any of these games, what did you call them?

How did you play?

What were the special rhymes and the actions to go with them?

Catch as catch can
Ball-bouncing games

In any playground with a large wall (ideally without any windows) you might well see a few children bouncing a ball against the wall to each other. This game goes by various names all over the country – what did you call it in your school?

There are lots of different rules that can be applied, such as one-hand-one-bounce and no-hands-two-bounces. What rules did you play to?

Where there any rhymes or words that were part of the game?

Which clapping games did you play, and what rhymes did you use?

Did you always play in pairs, or were there sometimes more than two of you involved?

Skipping, chasing and clapping take place in playgrounds all over the country, but there are other games – perhaps involving a few more tools or props – that can be played too. Did you play any of the games below? And can you remember the rules and the special words that went with them?

Marbles

Conkers

Cigarette Cards

Fivestones or Jacks

Hopscotch

Are there any other games that we’ve forgotten to mention? What were the rules?

Remarkably, some games have not changed for years and years. The chances are that you sang a similar skipping rhyme to your mother and maybe even your grandmother. Some crazes, however, just come and go in the space of a year – or even a term. What crazes swept through your school?

Holding your thumbs, crossing your fingers, catching a leaf – loads of things can be lucky. What did you and your friends think was lucky?

What was unlucky?

When you have an argument with your best friend as a child, it’s easy to smooth things over: you do a little ritual and everything’s forgiven. If only it were so easy when you’re an adult! What rituals can you remember from your childhood?

Were they linked to any special occurrence. For example, when two people say the same thing at the same time, or you both want the last biscuit?

There were some days of the year that you’d really look forward to. Were there any special words or actions it was important to say or do on these special days?

April Fools’ Day

Pancake Day

May Day

Hallowe’en

Guy Fawkes’ night

Oak Apple Day

Empire Day

The first of the month

The last day of term

Any more for any more?
Any Other Information

If you have any other recollections about playground activities, behaviour, rituals and language please let us know.