Childhood Memories of Playing Outdoors in the 1960s

The street we lived on wasn't very long and there was a hill on each end. All the neighborhood kids played in the street. We'd often have foot races, and throw balls back and forth. When one of us saw a car coming, we yelled "CAR" and everyone scattered to the side of the road until the car passed.

ROLLER SKATES

I had metal roller skates that clamped onto my shoes and would skate in the street by myself, or with anyone else who had skates. I skinned my elbows and knees a lot and always had scabs on them.

I never had a bicycle, but some of the other kids did. The kids with skates and bikes would go to the top of a hill at the end of the street. We would tie a rope to a bike and a skater would hold onto the end. The kid on the bike would pedal as fast as he could and pull the skater behind him. None of us ever had a wreck.

PLAYING HOPSCOTCH

Our road was paved with asphalt, but we had a driveway made of small rocks. The rocks were white and you could draw on the black asphalt road with them. similar to using chalk. So we drew a hopscotch design (court) on the road and played hopscotch in the street. We didn't have sidewalks.

To play hopscotch, you toss a rock into the first square. The rock has to land completely in the square. If it lands in the wrong square, you miss your turn. If the rock lands correctly, you hop through the hopscotch court beginning on square one. If two squares are side by side, you land on them at the same time, with the left foot in the left square and the right foot in the right square. You hop single squares on one foot.

When you reach the end of the court, you turn around and hop back through, hopping on the squares in reverse order and stopping to pick up your rock on the way back. If you step on a line, miss a square, or lose your balance, your turn ends. If you don't make any mistakes, you continue your turn by tossing the rock into square number two, and keep going. The one who successfully goes through the most numbers wins the game.

RUNNING THROUGH THE SPRINKLER

Back in the 1960s, no one we knew had an installed sprinkler system for their lawn. Everyone used water hoses hooked up to a small sprinkler, and then moved the sprinkler around the yard to water different areas. Our sprinkler was the type that was rectangular and had a bunch of little holes for the water to squirt out. The water would squirt out from each hole into a fairly long stream, sort of like a fan. The water stream would start out close to the ground, then rotate until it went all the way to the other side - back and forth. We would run through the water sprinkler when the bar was straight up and it was like running through a thin wall of water. It was a great way to have fun and cool off.

SUNBURNS

No one used sunscreen when I was a kid. We all got tans and often had sunburns. I don't remember the sunburns hurting. Our skin would peel and we thought it was great fun to grab a piece of peeling skin and see how much we could pull off without tearing it.

A NEAT HIDE-OUT

We mostly played in our backyard because it was bigger than the lawn out front. The back yard had a chain link fence around it and in one area my mother planted some huge climbing roses that draped over it. We had enough room to crawl between the plants and the fence to make a neat hide-out. We put a thick rug on the ground to sit on. The rose vines hung over the fence so far down on the other side that no one could see us from the yard behind us.

Photo by plasticrevolver on flickr

In grade school, we had two recesses every day. We always went outside unless it was raining or snowing. Our playground was made of asphalt, and there was a huge slide (much taller than the one in the photo), teeter totters, swings, monkey bars, a jungle gym (cubic metal bar structure), tether ball poles, some big concrete culverts to crawl through or sit on top of, and plenty of open area to play tag or run races.

I played jump rope a lot, sometimes jumping by myself, and other times with a group of kids. When in a group, two kids would turn a long rope and we'd line up and run into the rope, jump for a while and then jump out. You had to run into the rope when it was on the upswing to be in position to jump it on the way down. If you miscalculated, you got hit by the rope. It was a good heavy one, so it stung if you got hit.

Sometimes we played double dutch, using two ropes. Each of the two kids turning the ropes had a rope in each hand. They started one rope going counter-clockwise, and then they started the second rope going clockwise. They didn't swing both ropes together; they were swung alternately and the jumper really had to be careful to judge when it was safe to jump into the middle of them. The jumper had to jump both ropes as each one came down - double time. There were some songs we sang as we jumped.

On cold days, we'd run to the big culverts and sit inside to get out of the wind. Sometimes a kid would have an umbrella and we would hold it open at one end to block the wind. It was even better if we had two umbrellas so we could block both ends. The playground teachers would run us out after a while, though, because we were supposed to be getting fresh air. We'd soon group back together and get into another culvert.

The swings had big metal chains that hooked to a rubber seat that hung in a loop. The chains were long so you could really swing high. Sometimes we'd try to swing in tandem and other times we'd face in opposite directions and say "hi" as we passed each other.

It was also fun to sit on the swing and keep turning around in one direction so that the chains were twisted around each other. Then you raised your feet from the ground, hung on tight, and the swing would turn you round and round until the chains were back in position.

Photo by slide from wikipedia

Each summer we went to a two-week day camp. It was within walking distance, so we walked there and home again. My sister and I were a year apart in age, so we were in the same group and my two brothers were in different groups. There were lots of activities to keep us occupied.

CRAFTS

We made pot holders from looped material that we wove back and forth on a small metal frame with prongs to hold the looped ends.

We also made ashtrays using a metal ash tray and gluing small pieces of tile to the inside to make a colorful design.

We made pencil holders out of juice cans by covering the outside with plaster of paris. While it was still damp, we rolled the can in sequins and glitter.

There was a big sprinkler on a pole that all the kids played under. But it was also used when we made reed baskets. We'd sit under the sprinkler and weave the reeds because we had to keep them wet as we worked.

Then we had all kinds of physical activity; running races, doing the broad jump, jumping rope, and throwing balls.

My sister and I were great at the three-legged race because we were both the same height. To run in a three-legged race, two kids stood side by side and the camp helper tied their two middle legs together at the ankle. The outside legs were free and the tied legs became one leg. We put our inside arms around each other to help us stay together as we ran. Our outside arms were used for balance. To run this race, you had to be coordinated enough to run together and at the same pace. If one kid ran faster or slower than the other, you'd get all tangled up and fall over.

Sometimes we'd sit cross-legged on the grass and play hand clapping games. Two kids would face each other and mimic hand motions. For instance, you'd both pat your legs, then clap your hands, then clap each others hands either straight on or crossing your arms and hitting the opposite hands. We would sing songs while we clapped, such as "Miss Lucy had a baby", "Mary Mack", or "Have you ever, ever, ever".

Photo by tiswango on flickr

We sang a lot of songs at camp. My favorite one was "They Say That in the Army...." and it had a lot of verses and then the same refrain.

Verse: They say that in the Army, the girls are mighty fine. Some are over 80, the rest are under 9.

Verse: They say that in the Army, the biscuits' mighty fine. One rolled off the table and killed a friend of mine.

Verse: They say that in the Army, the pants are mighty fine. Both me and my buddy, can both fit into mine.

Verse: They say that in the Army, the girls are mighty fine. You ask for Betty Grable, they give you Frankenstein.

Verse: They say that in the Army, the coffee's mighty fine. It's good for cuts on bruises and tastes like iodine.

And of course, the refrain....
Oh, I don't want no more of army life... Gee mom, I wanna go, but they won't let me go. Gee mom, I wanna go home.

There were a lot more verses. If I remember any more, I'll add them.