Category Archives: Girl games

In the early days in Sunnyside,…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: menchette
 

In the early days in Sunnyside, Queens, when we were kids, we didn’t have a lot of space to run around in our little courtyard. Our ball games were usually against a brick wall or on concrete pavement. All the boys and girls played together – running bases, stick and boxball, single-double-triple, etc. Of course the girls did the A My Name is Alice thing, and we also played Hit the Ball on the Penny. For all these games, the ball of choice was almost always a Spaldeen. They had a good feel and a good bounce – and, as I recall, a good smell when they were brand new (that didn’t last long, maybe two paces out of the store and that was it…)

I also have a best friend….

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: LoriB
 

I also have a best friend. I always like the concept of best friend. It is so much fun to know that there is someone who knows you forever and has seen all these personal aspects of your life. My best friend lived with my mother for a short while and actually it was my step father who gave her the extra push she needed to take her big European adventure after high school. We met at 11 and have been friends ever since. We have never lost touch. We have supported each other through all of our major decisions in life. We basically have totally different friends. Of course we do know many of the same people. After high school our lives took on very different flavors. She is still unmarried without children, I am married and with. The things we choose to do. The things we choose to wear. The things we deeply believe in, I am not sure if any of it is the same, although I am sure it intersects. The choices we made in our late teens – it was all different, what we felt was cool – not the same – and now at thirty eight we are still best friends. I know her in a way noone else can know her because we met at 11 and have been there for each other through every stage up until the present.

In answer to Russian Ten…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: DonnaHW [e-mail]
 

In answer to Russian Ten (I think there was also Russian Seven), I don’t remember the order but some of the things you had to do were throw the ball against the wall and clap once, throw the ball against the wall and clap over and under your leg, throw the ball against the wall and turn around and throw the ball and clap in front and then behind you. These are the only ones I remember. Did you have to catch the ball on a fly or was it allowed to bounce? We used to play that if you could get to five without getting out then you could start you next turn on whichever one you got out on. If you didn’t make it to five then on your next turn you had to start over from one.

I grew up playing touch…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Cindy
 

I grew up playing touch football with the boys in the street and still have a pretty good pass (when it’s on, of course). When I was about 7 months pregnant with my last child, I taught my then 5-year old son and his friends how to play the game (just so they wouldn’t kill themselves playing tackle!). Now as an adult, I’m generally the token women at the paddleball courts (4 active courts going!). So, in answer to the question, yes, and I still am!

Does anybody remember a…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: DonnaHW [e-mail]
 

Does anybody remember a game called “Time”? Two girls go out of the room and choose a time from 1 to 12 and decide if it’s going to be thirty or o’clock. They then go back in and tell the others whether it thirty or o’clock. The others, in turn, start guessing the time. When someone guesses the correct time, the two who picked the time both have to yell “time”. The correct guesser then gets to pick a catagory like girls names or flowers and chooses 1 or 2. The original two girls go out again and each choose 1 or 2 (depending on what was picked by the correct guesser) names in that catagory. The idea is to pick what you think the correct guesser will choose. The person who called “time” first gets to choose names first and also gets to be the one to say these choices to the correct guesser. They then go back in and give the correct guesser the choices. If your choices are chosen, you get to go again with the new person and the old person sits down and everything starts all over again. Does this sound familiar to anyone (or does it even make sense?) I recently taught it to a group of children that I was working with and they played for hours.

Cat’s Cradle was a complicated…

Streetplay Discussion Archive Posted on by
Original author: Butirfli [e-mail]
 

Cat’s Cradle was a complicated game. A game that required its players to be coordinated and somewhat expert in the art of string. To play Cat’s Cradle, two pairs of hands and a long string were needed. (Bakery Box string was always best)The game was started with the first player looping the string around her hands to create a specific design. The second player was required to remove the string from the first players hands, in such a way, that she created a second design. Players took turns until no more designs could be created. I never figured out how to remove that last design. It had to be removed with your pinkies!