Kids Could Do a Lot of Things Then That They Can’t Do Now

Last week, a Texas woman was arrested for allegedly letting her kids (ages six and nine) play in their cul-de-sac unattended.  I think back to my childhood and when I was around five years old, the rule was to be home when the street lights came on.  We were free to roam the neighborhood and there was an understanding that if we got out of line, someone would call our parents.  Of course, this was before we decided to attempt to bubble wrap our kids.

There were plenty of activities that we were allowed to do that are now banned from schools.  Red Rover was a standard game and you wanted the biggest kids on your team.  Each team would line up facing the other team and hands were joined.  Then kids were picked to run across the play area in an effort to break the chain.  If they got through, they took a person back to their team with them.  If the failed, they lined up with the opposing side.

Dodgeball wasn't played on a court.  It was a circle of kids around two others.  There were three or four balls being hurled at the two in the middle.  If you get hit, you're out.  If you catch the ball, you got to choose someone else to be in the middle and you got to be a thrower.

We didn't have padded ground under our playground equipment and we were allowed to climb on things.  Nobody went crazy when we played cops and robbers with cap guns.  But those things are things of the past.

What about you?  What games/activities were you allowed to do as a kid that children today are deprived of?