Summertime fun as a kid

[Darlene]

When I was a kid (born 1960) we'd be out playing after we had our bowl of sugar laden cereal and wouldn't be back til lunchtime. I'd hop on my bike looking for adventure and would always stop next door or down the street to ring the bell & see if so & so could play. Then there was a round of "What do you wanna do?" "I don't know, what do you wanna do?" Often times we'd grab a bamboo pole with a hook tied to the end, dig up some worms and go fishing in the river close to our house. Other times we'd get a bunch of kids together for wiffle ball, tv tag,hide and go seek, kickball, 4 square...
We'd chase butterflies, catch bugs, snipe & nightcrawler hunting, play hopscotch, draw with chalk in the road & sidewalk, swim, run through the sprinkler, barbies, jacks, matchbox cars, chant/clap games, card and board games, kool-aid and creepy crawler stands, cloud staring, dandelion blowing... always something to do.

My kids kept pretty busy when they were growing up but not like we did back in the day. Sure they rode their bikes but couldn't just hop on and go. They grew up here on the creek so had all kinds of fun fishing (they were upgraded to poles with reels), swimming and catching crayfish, bugs, salamanders & all that. Having a friend over usually meant having to drive miles and that was ok because it usually meant sleep overs. Video & board games were a hit too.

Now when we get together there are an array of ages and games like croquet, bocce ball, horseshoes, badminton & card games are played.

What do you remember? What do you do now? Did you teach your kids some of the things you did as a kid? They play them now? Enjoy the trip down memory lane.

[nadine64]

Loved reading your post! Wow. Took me back! I remember having days of fun with my friends and a broken down shopping cart. Playing hopscotch, Uno, tennis against the wall, softball and just plain hanging out on the front porch until time to come in. And back then, the signal to at least come home to the porch was when the street lights came on. No such thing as cell phones and you were only late once on that porch or in the house!

[Palooka]

Well born 1970, besides playing Atari at my friends house, I lived outside and did some crazy fun stuff. I just had to come home for meal times and I was back out the door with all the neighborhood kids.

One crazy fun memory was climbing down in the city sewer and I'm not kidding. We had these cement like walls on the street and only a few inches to crawl down into and we did. It was tunnels for miles and we just walked with our legs straddle against the walls and never touched nothing gross underground. We even walked to the point of a big drop off and had to turn around. It was our secret society hang out place. lol

We played tether ball, biked, played with snakes and bugs, played in the snow, in the rain, etc. We made lemonade stands.. We always found something to do. I still remember my curfew of 8:30 in the summer and was never late and always had my watch on.

And now kids don't want to play outside because we have things like Exbox live and face book. Oh they don't know what they are missing.

[ilovechocolate]

The ice cream truck!!! Popsicles were 6 cents each (I'm 55) and boy, were they good. They were the kind with 2 sticks. Around 3 in the afternoon nothing could taste better. Usually I got cherry but sometimes got a Fudgesicle or a Creamsicle (orange and vanilla ice cream) or a Nutty Buddy.

And playing in the sprinkler. Putting on my bathing suit and Mama turning on the sprinkler and all the kids would run through it. Backyard pools back then were only for rich folks in Hollywood.

We kept a running Monopoly game going every summer spread out on the floor in my brother's room. When it got really hot we would come inside and play for awhile.

Mama would also back the car out of the carport and spread a big old quilt on the carport's floor and we would play with our blocks, plastic cowboys and soldiers, and Barbies out of the sun.

We also went to the public library a lot---several times a week.

Life was good.

[monkeywrangler71]

We played in the woods all day, exploring, playing pretend, eating things we found that were probably poisonous, searching for abandoned mine shafts, building forts and climbing massive trees.

My kids aren't allowed to even approach the edge of the yard, I'm too worried about the coyotes.

[baxjul]

We used to go play in the woods all the time. I grew up with all boys, so we played football, baseball, etc. We would go into the woods and spy on the bears. Most times we weren't home until after dark.