Remembering the Y Kid » Pastimes

Playing in the Sprinkler

Andrea — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:22:36 +0000

Photo By bbum

I don’t know about you, but the summers of my childhood were HOT. All you wanted to do was put your bathing suit on and have fun in the water. But there were some days that you couldn’t convince your mom to take you to the pool, so running through a cold sprinkler on your lawn was they only way to cool down. Good thing it was almost as much fun as going to the pool! We didn’t need “Crazy Daisies” or “Slip ‘n Slides;” we were happy with your average lawn sprinkler, and if dad’s wasn’t good enough, we’d go use someone else’s.

Step 1 was putting your bathing suit on and getting your towel out. Playing in the sprinkler was so spontaneous, no application of sunscreen or packing of snacks was required. If anything the only preparation needed was calling up your next door neighbor and seeing if they wanted to join in on the fun.

Photo By Today is a good day

Step 2 was setting up the sprinkler. Before water bans, my dad always had the sprinkler out and ready to go. There was nothing like the simple set up of rolling out the hose, twisting the faucet while hearing it squeak, and seeing the sprinkler come to life. We had a great sprinkler for the purpose of playing with (see the picture for reference) because it got you really wet and it moved.

Step 3 was running through the water. Sure it was cold, but more importantly it was exhilarating. There were different tactics you could use: standing in one place and getting wet, jumping over it, or playing “keep away.” The different things you could do with a sprinkler without getting bored still amazes me. It didn’t really matter what you did as long as your were staying cool and having fun, and I’m sure your parents had a great time watching you no matter what.

Eventually the grass would start sticking to your feet, you’d get tired of being cold, and the fun would come to an end. Not before getting one last slurp out of the hose though!

What’s your favorite memory of cooling down in the summer heat? We’re hoping to post summer memories all summer long so stay tuned!

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Four Square

Andrea — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:00:14 +0000

Photo By jodigreen

Apparently, there is normal Four Square, and then the crazy version that I grew up with. The older I got, the more I realized that I had been playing Four Square wrong all those years as child. But since I haven’t played Four Square since elementary school, it has never mattered that much. It makes me sad inside when people have no recollection of playing Four Square the way I did because it made Four Square so much more exciting.

The Traditional Way

The way Four Square is normally played is on a square divided into 4 smaller squares. The sidewalks at my school were convenient to play on because the concrete was split up into perfect sized squares. Each person stands in their square and bounces a ball back and forth to the other players in an attempt to get them out. A player is out when the ball is hit incorrectly or bounces too many times in a square. Once the person is out, everyone rotates to a higher ranking. For example if player 3 gets out, player 2 moves into player 3′s square, player 1 moves into player 2′s square, and the first square is filled by someone waiting in line. The object is to reach the highest ranked square. This continues for as long as everyone is willing to play. Its good exercise if played correctly and can get highly competitive.

Unconventional?

We followed all of the same rules as the traditional method, but we spiced things up. I always thought it was the way everyone played this game, but apparently not. The highest ranked player was King, then Queen, Jack, and Baby (or Dunce) followed. I’m not sure how all of the spots were determined at the beginning of the game but it usually panned out in a sort of social hierarchy.

Photo By vissago

Whoever was King got to make the calls, therefore, there was more incentive to be King. The King would make the call, and then play would continue accordingly until someone got out and then a new call would be made. Sometimes the King would just get tired of the call and would change it once he regained control of the ball. Since there was no real way to win Four Square, getting to be in power for a few short minutes could really change the whole entire day for a kid.

The thing about calls was that, if you didn’t know what all of the calls were you were at a disadvantage. I really only remember the names of the calls, but not what they did, so I used the help of the internet to refresh my memory:

Around the World

Once this was called, the ball would either go clockwise or counterclockwise around the square until either the King called “Peace”, a player broke the pattern, or a player got out.

Bus Stop

The King placed the ball in the middle of the court where all the lines intersected while calling out “Bus Stop” and all the players needed to place their hand on the ball. The last one to do so was out.

In another variation, all of the players except for the King would dash to the center of the court. Again, the last to reach the center would be out.

Cherry Bomb

This was probably one of the most memorable calls. The King would spike the ball hard into someone’s square making it difficult to pass the ball on. You can continue to slam the ball toward the ground with extreme force into another square, which makes it hard for the next person.

Or the King would throw the ball out of the square and if the person given a cherry bomb didn’t get it back in ten seconds they were out, which was usually the case.

Four Corners

Photo by dentedup

All players except for the King would retreat to their corner. The last one to reach their corner was out.

Popcorn

The first person (usually the king) would throw the ball up into the air, clap once, then pass it to the second person who would clap twice while the ball was in the air, and so on. The longer the ball was in play, the more clapping you had to do before you had to catch the ball.

Typewriter

This call would require you to spell out your name. You would bounce the ball for each letter. Whomever you passed it to would have to do the same and so on.

War

Once declared, the King and the chosen player would hit it the ball back and forth between them only. If one of them messed up at anytime, that player would be out. If the King called “Peace” before the end of the round, the game would return to normal.

I know there were more, but my memory fails me. What way did you play? If you played the way I remember, what was your favorite call? Were any of the calls different from how I described them?

Outdoor Cuisine

Andrea — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:00:28 +0000

Photo By kmevans

Even though we grew up in the age of technology, we still knew how to use our imaginations. I spent many days outside playing with the neighborhood kids engaging in a timeless tradition of making inedible foods. Even though we never truly believed we would eat these concoctions, we put a lot of effort into finding the materials, taking care to stir it well, and coming up with ideas on how delicious and profitable it would be when it was done. Sooner or later, we’d all get called in for supper, eat a real meal, and forget about our entrepreneurial pursuits as chefs. But today we remember!

The Appetizers

Photo By sean dreilinger

If something looked like it could be eaten, then it was more fun to use it as “food.” One thing that comes to mind for me were the red berries off of the holly bushes outside of my house. The older kids always warned us that they were poisonous, but that increased the thrill. You could use them for decoration or mash them up into a paste. Really anything that could be mashed was instantly more fun because you could pretend that you were living in the wilderness and living off the land.

Our neighbor had a peach tree, but the peaches took forever to ripen and were usually still green and baby sized. We would pluck these off the tree and add them to our feast. Eventually, the neighbors got mad that we were stealing all of their peaches before they could ripen (not like the squirrels had a bigger part in taking peaches than we did), and the tree became off limits.

The closest thing I ever made to an appetizer was something rolled up in in a leaf and kept closed by a twig pierced through like a tooth pick. inside could be grass, rocks, acorns… really anything. This is where the berry paste or even some mud came in handy. They looked fancy and good enough to eat… I secretly wished they were edible.

Main Course

Photo By natashalcd

The part I found most fun was making soup or stew. It was almost like a witch’s brew; stirred with a stick and probably tasted nasty. We would start with a bucket (the kind you take to the beach), filled it with water, and then added the ingredients. This was a neighborhood effort. One person would watch over the process and was in charge of the stirring. Everyone else was a gatherer. We’d find the most colorful flowers, handfuls of grass, tree bark, leaves, pine straw, etc. The more unusual the better. Every once in awhile we could even find mushrooms to include. The soup would get more outlandish with the more things that were added. Even though there was nothing heating it up, I swear I could smell the delicious aroma that was coming from our exceptional cooking. It was always disappointing when we had to call it quits and dump out all of our hard work.

Dessert

Photo By blondie478

The tastiest part of the meal was also the messiest. One of the most obvious desserts was of course the “mud pie.” It took very little effort and materials. All you needed was water, dirt, and your hands. Apparently some people get a little more creative then just making mud patties. I wish I had thought of decorative flowers. My mom would not have been a happy camper if I put mud in the same stuff she used for cooking. The messier you got, the more fun it was… although you probably made your mom freak out when you came back in covered in mud. Of course it was always a good excuse to get to wash off in the hose. Where I grew up, we only had red clay, which was sure to stain your clothes.

What sorts of culinary creations did you come up with as a kid? Any favorite ingredients or recipes?

Chuck E. Cheese’s

Andrea — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:00:26 +0000

Photo By driph

Where a Kid Can be a Kid!

We used to beg and plead with my parents to take us to Chuck E. Cheese’s whenever we passed it even though we knew it was more of a special occasion type place. Sure the pizza and prizes sucked, but this place was magical! The games were classic and the indoor playground was awesome. Am I wrong to remember Chuck wearing a suit/tux? He’s certainly changed his appearance from a more realistic version of Mickey Mouse to a fun loving kid over the years. Today there are more than 500 locations in the US and other countries in the western hemisphere.

History

The idea of Chuck E. Cheese’s first came from the founder of Atari. The concept was to have video games and entertainment in a family, restaurant environment. Several break ups and mergers later, Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theater evolved into what is the Chuck E. Cheese’s we know today.

Animatronic Concerts

Photo By spike55151

Up until the mid 90s a big draw to the restaurant was the animated characters that performed on a stage. I remember it was always a big deal when the curtains opened and these animatronics started jamming out. Of course, once you got older you couldn’t see the big deal because they were obviously fake.

Photo By heycmyk

Pizza

The main staple you eat at Chuck E. Cheese’s is of course, pizza. I’m not sure if it’s improved any, but the quality was terrible. It was sort of like eating cardboard. Therefore, you did not go to eat pizza, you went for the entertainment. And if you got hungry… food was easily accessible.

Tokens and Tickets

Cups full of tokens were one of those things that made the pizza worth it.

Photo By Brian "DoctaBu" Moore

Unfortunately the exchange rate for tokens never really seemed fair to me. For the amount of money I was putting in, I should have been able to get TONS of tokens, right? Wrong. Tokens would get used up fast and then my parent’s wouldn’t give me any more money because they felt like they had already given me enough.

Since I was on a token budget, I’d always go for the games that would give me tickets so I could trade them in. But of course you never had enough tickets to get the really cool stuff. If you were lucky you could get plastic rings, a pencil, and some fake bugs… for ten dollars worth of tokens?

Chuck E. Cheese’s has a very clever money scheme going. Kind of like Disney World, but worst. Apparently they are looking at switching from tokens to money cards and I wouldn’t be surprised if they made you buy the card on top of adding money to it!

Games

Chuck E. Cheese’s had some classic games that I always looked forward to playing:

Wacky Gator

Photo By peretzpup

Skee Ball

Photo By alexlc13

Hungry Hippos

Photo By bradsearles

Storm Stopper

Photo By astrid_starcluster

Photo Car

Photo By rubink1

Birthday Parties

Photo By mintlipgloss

Having a birthday party there was like a dream come true for kids and a nightmare for parents. But at least there was cake, food and entertainment! I once worked with a lady who said the only thing that made Chuck E. Cheese bearable was the fact that they served beer and that she was lucky that her kids were older by the time they stopped serving it.

Memories

The best story I have about Chuck E. Cheese is from when my older cousin had her birthday there. As a kid she had pretty wild hair, so as she went in to blow out the candles, her hair caught on fire! Luckily nothing bad happened but it sure did make for a good family video. My cousins always said that after that she was traumatized by Chuck E. Cheese.

For more info and fun, check out the Chuck E. Cheese’s website. Do you have a memory to share? I’d like to end with this hilariously funny video of the Chuck E. Cheese band performing “Love in this Club” by Usher:

I Spy Scholastic Books

Andrea — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:00:12 +0000

Photo By Walter Wick

I’m sure we have all played the game “I spy with my little eye…” but do you remember the wonderful picture books that always seemed to be checked out of the library? The I Spy series provided hours of entertainment with simple rhyming clues and brilliant photography. As the hit book series “Where’s Waldo?” showed us, there’s a good market for books that are less about reading and more about searching.

The Authors

I Spy was a collaborative effort between Jean Marzollo and Walter Wick. After seeing one of Wick’s pieces of photography, “Odds and Ends,” Marzollo (who was the editor of a kindergarten magazine published by Scholastic) asked him to do a similar poster.

Image From childrenslibrary.org

This caught the eye of of editors in the Scholastic book division, and eventually the two began working on the first I Spy book in 1991. Marzollo wrote the texts based on Wick’s photography and the rest is history.

The Series

Apparently there was another book series called “I-Spy” in the 50s and 60s for brittish kids that were “spotter’s guides,” but can hardly compare. With 13 books published total from 1992 to 2003, I Spy books won numerous children’s book awards and firmly established a place in my childhood. From Treasure Hunts to Christmas, each book was awesome. Every page was whimsical and a new adventure. I loved the intricate detail in the photographs, although I always thought the rhymes were a little cheesey.

The only way to really get ahold of them was at the library because they were considerably expensive due to their hard cover backing, and even then they were only available every once in a blue moon. It wasn’t like a regular book that required reading, however, it used a lot of word play and patience. These were books that I could read more than once and still spend forever trying to get through it; every time felt like the first time. They also brought a whole new meaning to the idea of reading a book together.

Photo By Walter Wick

Fun Facts

Nintendo DS and Wii games have been developed based off the series.

Feel like reading I Spy? Enjoy the original.

Scholastic actually has devoted a large part of their website to games and activities related to I Spy.

Share your I Spy memories below!

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Valentine’s Day

Andrea — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:23:30 +0000

Photo By Sister72

Second to Halloween in candy and to Christmas in love, Valentine’s Day could quite possibly be my favorite holiday. It’s one of those days that just comes and goes; a split second in time to feel loved… or absolutely miserable. But when you’re a kid, any holiday is a good holiday, especially when it involves gifts, candy, and parties.

Why I loved It

I love a holiday that is all about loving others. It’s a good excuse to spread some love in the world! Even though I collected my elementary Valentine’s Day cards for a really long time (still have the collection!) it wasn’t about that for me, it was about giving the cards instead. When I was little I bought the themed ones, and it was all about picking out the right card. You didn’t want to send the wrong message after all! Once I got a little older, I started making my own, which I enjoyed much more because it was much more personal and fun.

The Right Card

Obviously you would save the “Will you be my Valentine?” and the “You’re fine, Valentine!” for the guys you really had a crush on. The weird guys would get the least suggestive ones so as not to get the wrong idea. The girls didn’t matter as much, but sometimes I would try to get a different type of card to give them so that they were more girlie– like Barbie.

Photo By Penguin & Fish

The best cards in elementary school came with stickers… or even better candy, glowed in the dark, were a tattoo, basically something other than just a card. I also enjoyed the cards that came with word searches, crosswords, and mazes though.

It was always interesting to see what the popular “gift” of the year was. Everyone would usually get the same theme of card or candy to give out. I remember one year I got a ton of the big cards you’d stick a lollipop in.

Mail Boxes

Photo By ninjapoodles

Decorating a box was also my favorite part. Basically I loved any excuse to be crafty. I would secretly compete with everyone to try to make the best box in the class. There was nothing like digging around for a shoebox, cutting up construction paper, and decking out your box. It just didn’t feel like Valentine’s day without a personalized, decorated box! The boxes made delivering cards fun cause you got to see what everyone else’s looked like. The trick was making your mail slot big enough to fit a wide variety of goodies.

Parties and Candy

In elementary school, the entirety of this day (or the closest day to it) was spent eating cupcakes, hanging out, and exchanging cards. At least that’s how I remember it. You wore a ton of pink and red and decked yourself out in hear. There were also lots of red and pink decorations.

Photo By jek in the box

There were always the candy hearts and the distinct heart shaped lollipops. Most of the candy was came in Valentine themed wrappers. Plus mom and dad were usually pretty awesome about getting you a stuffed animal or box of chocolates to make you feel good.

Valentine’s day was definitely something to look forward to because unlike when you’re older… everyone could feel loved even without that special someone.

My Favorite Memory

The best Valentine’s day memory I have is from the 5th grade when I was boy crazy in love with this guy that I had a super big crush on but he had no interest in dating me. I don’t think I ever had a crush after him that could really compare it to. Well I was really excited about giving him a Valentine, but when the magical day came… he didn’t come to school! I couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t there… it was the WORST Valentine’s day ever! How could he do such a thing to a love struck 10 year old? How was I supposed to show my undying love for him if he wasn’t there?

Well I survived… and I conjured up a scheme to match no other. I went through all of the candy hearts I had gotten at school that day and picked out the ones that had the best sayings on them. Then I cut out 2 hearts from construction paper, put the candy hearts in the middle of them, and sewed them up by using a hole puncher and some yarn. So basically it was a construction paper heart filled with candy hearts. The next day I learned that he had been sick, so I forgave him and gave him the gift I had made.

Photo By CarleyJane

He loved it so much! Or at least he pretended to. I can still remember the feeling I got from seeing his reaction. I’m pretty sure I wrote about it in my diary. Not like it really mattered since we never became boyfriend and girlfriend or whatever. It’s funny looking back on this because five years later we became pretty good friends. The moral of this story is that if you’re a guy, and I give you an awkwardly random present, pretend to love it because I probably have a silly crush on you.

Please share with us your favorite Valentine’s Day memories. Even if you don’t have anyone to be with on Valentine’s Day, I hope its a good one! I’ll be sending my love your way =]

Heads Up, 7 Up

Andrea — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:00:54 +0000

Heads down, thumbs up!

This was everyone’s favorite elementary school activity. It worked well for when there was some downtime in the classroom because it gave everyone something to do and there were plenty of people to participate. Although this game dates back to at least the 1950s, it’s still a great memory for Generation Y.

The Object of The Game

The whole purpose of the game was to guess which one of the 7 people who were “it” tagged your thumb while your head was down. If you guessed correctly, then you would be able to replace them on the “it” team. Basically this game was impossible to win because all you could do was take a guess. If played correctly, your chances of winning were one in seven, and half the time you didn’t even get picked because only 7 were chosen to guess. Basically it was a scheme to keep kids quietly entertained.

3 Steps

There were three basic steps to playing this game. First either the teacher (or one of the 7) would say “Heads down, Thumbs up!” and everyone participating would close his or her eyes, put their head down on their desk, and keep one hand in the “thumbs up” position so that it was accessible.

Photo By captain simon's mandolin

Next the 7 would wander the room choosing either their best friend or someone they thought wouldn’t be able to figure out who they were. To “choose” a person, the 7 would press down on a person’s thumb. Some people were clever and would either press down harder or lighter on a thumb in order to “disguise” themselves. Once chosen, that person would put their thumb down so that no one else could choose them.

Photo By super.heavy

Once all of the 7 had chosen someone, they moved to the front of the room and they or the teacher would call “Heads up, 7 up!” Everyone would lift their heads looking around to see who had been picked and the chosen 7 would stand up. Then everyone would watch as each of those selected would try to guess who picked them.

Photo By Sheree K

How to Win

Apparently the reason why I hated this game so much was because I didn’t know the secret to winning– you had to cheat! (which is another thing I hate doing– to this day I believe that if you have to cheat to win its just not worth it) Anyway… someone recently told me that you would have to look at everyone’s shoes as they were near you. Then when they stood up at the front, you would just look to see who was wearing the the matching pair of shoes. Genius.

So I guess you could say that the only real way to win was if you were never discovered as a thumb presser and got to stay on as one of the 7 for the next round.

Other good ways to be a good guesser was obviously using your senses of touch and hearing. Was someone wearing a loud bracelet? Bingo. Another good way was of course to guess your friends.

Other Versions

While doing research on this game I found out there were other ways to play it than I always had. Apparently some people play it opposite so players put their thumb up instead of down when “tagged.” There is also a more complicated version you can play that is explained in these more detailed instructions on how to play Heads Up, 7 Up.

What was your Favorite way to Play?

Please leave us a comment and share your memories of Heads Up, 7 Up

Bead Critters

Andrea — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:00:18 +0000

Photo By containerjunkie

When I was in the third grade or so, someone learned how to make animals out of pony beads and this craft exploded. Using a pattern and plastic beads you could make every kind of critter imaginable and more often than not they ended up as key chains. Most people didn’t have the patience to makes these but really liked the idea behind them, so knowing the skills of the trade could easily make you popular.

It was hard to find anything about these on the web so I’m not really sure of their history or how long they’ve been around for, but it’s silly to think that such a silly craft could be so popular. I admit that I share Matthew’s memory of:

“people brought boxes of beads to school to makes them.“

Mostly because I was one of those people…

I feel like the most common or traditional animal was the Gecko/Lizzard. I guess it was because of how basic they were to make and how cool they looked in the end. Another benefit was that you could make the tails as long as you wanted which added to their overall value; it looked more impressive if the tail was 2 feet long!

If you wanted to move up to the next level of critter making, you could buy kits at the store.

Photo From ponybeads

These not only came with all the materials you needed, but the instructions as well. But like all good things in life, these were expensive. I remember paying anywhere from 5 to 10 dollars for a kit which looking back on it was extremely useless once assembled. I guess it was a good alternative to watching TV. Eventually my mom got a huge bucket with a variety of beads and cord with a bunch of different patterns to choose from. That bucket was like heaven because you could use whatever colors you wanted.

I feel like I’ve made a ton of different ones in my life time, but the only thing I can remember making is a bee, since it was so unique. I still have it as a matter of fact! The Gecko, however, will always be a personal favorite.

I wonder if I even remember how to make these. If I’ve inspired you to (re)take up this hobby here’s a website with a ton of patterns. I also found some basic instructions to refresh your memory. And of course here’s the classic Gecko pattern.

What bead critters did you make?

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Glue Bookmarks

Andrea — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:00:43 +0000

You may be asking yourself, “What is a glue bookmark?” and “How do I make one?” The answer is simple– a bookmark made from:

This craft was not only fun, but a good way to make a little extra income.

Spacemakers are essential to the glue bookmark because they are plastic and have a unique indention in the center that provided the mold for the bookmark. Since the word “Spacemaker” is located in this indention, it is safe to assume that all glue bookmarks have “Spacemaker” imprinted on them. The first step involves coloring in this indention with washable markers. The key for a truly magical bookmark is to use more than one color in order to get a swirl effect. Permanent markers are a bad choice because they won’t come off. The reason for the white Elmer’s glue is so that the bookmark will dry clear and not interfere with the design made by the washable markers. The glue is poured into the indention (over the design) and is left to dry. This is a terrible waste of glue, but definitely worth every drop of it.

Back in the day you had to be careful where you stored the Spacemaker to dry if you did it at school. The most convenient place was your desk, but this was also a bad choice because most often you would end up with glue everywhere! It takes a couple of days to dry, and then you simply peel off the glue from the pencil box. Obviously you have to wait until the glue turns clear before removing. Unfortunately, the life span of these bookmarks is not very long due to the fact that they continue to dry over time and become brittle and fragile.

Glue bookmarks are still popular to make today. My friend’s little brother made her one that featured University of Georgia Spirit:

I also found this really funny video of a kid that gives a tutorial on how to make your very own glue bookmark:

If anyone makes a glue bookmark and sends me a picture of it, I will add it to this post! Even better would be a picture of you with a glue bookmark you made as a kid.

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