Childhood Activities

I know I've never had kids of my own, and at the moment school is out for the summer, but what childhood activities did you enjoy when you were kids?

Back in the 50s my brother and I were fortunate enough to have parents who bought us lovely presents at Christmas, only for them to be discarded in favour of big cardboard boxes which the toys came in.

Those big boxes became caravans to us, or space ships, battle ships, tanks, kitchen, racing cars and all sorts of fun things. Boy and girl stuff!

What I'm saying is, we made up our own fun despite the toys we got. We had imagination which, from what I understand, children today lack. I could be wrong about that, but what do you miss from being a child.

I miss making sand pies on a damp beach!

Re: Childhood Activities

Up a lazy river in the noon day sun,
A lazy lazy river when the weather's warm,
Linger for a while in the shade of a tree,
Throw away your troubles and just dream a dream with me.

That's correct . . . I've been fishing since I was knee high to a grasshopper . . . I started when I was 7 years old, I have very fond memories of sitting on the river banks.

Re: Childhood Activities

I used to have a climbing frame and the highlight of fun was scouring the area for old planks of wood and anything we could find to make a sort of decking in the frame along with a sheet of canvas and turn this frame into a "boys Wendy house", which with a moderate dose of imagination became almost anything.

Computers? X-Boxes? Ipods? Pffffftttt!!!

Re: Childhood Activities

I dont miss much from my childhood days as we did not have much.

We made our own entertainment as toys were scarce but one thing I do miss is the community spirit that was prevenant then. Everyone looked out for each other and there was no real 'Greed ' amongst everyday folk you shared what you had and enjoyed life.

eg. A friend has a cleaner who comes in once a week and a gardener who tends her garden. One day the cleaner saw some money on the sideboard and ask what it was, on being told it was to pay her gardener the cleaner said ' My husband will do it cheaper than that '. ie, her husband is a union convenor, who said comradery is dead.

Re: Childhood Activities

Playing in the nearby woods: damming the creek, catching crawfish, going way deep in the woods looking for the source of it pretending I was looking for the source of the Nile, catching garter and grass snakes and a box turtle........

Can you imagine letting a girl child do all that today........
It was a different world then.

Re: Childhood Activities

My brother and I used to make a small fire at the back of our house on some waste land. We'd make a square out of old bricks about 12" high and we'd "cook" mud, soil, leaves and any other debris in an old frying pan. Yummy!

One of my fondest memories of being a child was when I'd visit my little friend across the street and we'd read our Janet and John books together. We'd be about five or six years old then, but I learned to read at three so Janet and John was a doddle and, when my friend stumbled on a word, I'd help her out.

As DM said, it was a different world back then.

Re: Childhood Activities

I remember hop scotch & tennis ball games against the wall ... cats cradles & mud pies ... taking my guinea pig for a walk in a special harness & being driven round & round a field by my brother in a pale green Escort van!

Re: Childhood Activities

Being given a rare Sunday treat ... a ride in our neighbor's old Essex car and being allowed to stand on the running board as we drove through the ford!