7. Those things from childhood Novel: Extreme World | Author: Chao Ge De Ming Zi | Category: Urban Romance Thinking of many little games from childhood, the games in the countryside and city were different. 20 years ago, a song "Childhood" was sung all over the country. "Childhood" was under the tree branches, by the pond, and under the eaves. "Childhood" was colorful, hazy, and close to nature. Every blade of grass and every tree around us could become a toy; we had rich imagination and creativity back then. Can the "childhood" of the past be replicated for today's children?
"Passing the handkerchief, passing the handkerchief, gently place it behind a child, don't tell them... Hurry up and tell them, hurry up and tell them~"
This might be the prototype of today's skateboards, with three or four wheels. Take a piece of wood, attach some axles and wheels, add a steering wheel, find a slope, hold the direction, and slide down the slope. It was the most exciting and fun game at that time. Since ball bearings in the raw materials were not easy to get, children who owned a wheeled vehicle often drew envious looks from their playmates.
It can be divided into short rope skipping and long rope skipping.
Short rope skipping is basically a personal game, but two people can also skip with one short rope, where one person holds the rope while the other follows the rhythm of the rope holder inside the rope circle; at most, three people can jump, with one person following the main jumper in front and behind. The game requires coordination; due to the small size of the rope circle, the follower must closely cooperate with the main jumper without affecting the jump. Single-person rope skipping can be divided into style competitions and physical endurance competitions: style competitions include forward jumps, backward jumps, double skips, triple skips, twisted jumps, and multi-person jumps as mentioned above; physical endurance competitions can be either speed-based (timed counting system) or endurance-based (non-timed counting system).
Long rope skipping is a group game, with two people swinging the rope and an unlimited number of participants jumping. There are single rope and double rope variations, with the latter being more difficult for participants; competitions can also be timed or non-timed.
Collect popsicle sticks and then play pick-up sticks with friends. The loser has to give away their popsicle sticks. Nowadays, this seems like a form of gambling, but as children, we didn't care about that.
This is a game girls love to play. With a string, two people sit opposite each other and start playing. There are generally a few fixed ways to untangle the string, and you can have a lot of fun going back and forth. Some skilled players can create even more complex patterns.
Boys use slingshots to shoot at your house windows, haha, "ya" is just a slingshot. It’s usually made by bending thick wire, but for stronger ones, wooden handles are carved and smoothed out. Bicycle inner tubes are used as the sling bands, soft leather as the pouch, and small stones as ammunition. Boys use them to shoot birds, while girls just fiddle with them, at least telling others they have one. As for pellet guns, I remember making one as a kid using a bicycle chain to shape a thin iron rod into the form of a handgun, secured with rubber bands, and shooting matchstick heads.
Rolling an iron hoop, now only seen at temple fairs as a "sport", almost every boy had one when they were young. An iron hoop plus a hooked iron stick, controlling the rolling direction of the hoop, seeing who can run the fastest. Some large hoops even have smaller hoops attached, ringing as they roll. The highest level I've seen is rolling the hoop on train tracks.
This was originally a girl's specialty, but gradually boys started playing too. It's rarely protested as a cooperative game between boys and girls. Remember during sandbag tosses, if the person on the opposite side gets hit by the sandbag and doesn't catch it, they are "eliminated". If a child in the middle catches the sandbag, they gain an extra "life", which can be used for themselves or to save a team member already out of the game. When I was a child, I would chase after the sandbags wherever they went until everyone was too tired to continue. Now I feel regretful because if I had been more humble and stepped aside earlier, they might have continued playing with me later.
Playing marbles, colorful glass balls, girls generally don't play, they just collect them and put them in fish tanks. Boys, however, gather in groups. First, they press a larger marble into the ground to make a pit, draw a line from a distance as the starting point, and try their best to flick the marbles into the hole. Marbles that go into the hole are called "tigers", those that don’t are "sheep". Each time a tiger hits a sheep, the sheep's marble belongs to the tiger's owner. If a sheep hits a tiger three times consecutively, the tiger becomes a sheep. Flicking marbles with no support and airborne is called "high shot", and that's definitely for experts.
In the spring breeze, find a big square, holding kites made by dad, such as "Eagle", go with friends to fly them. Back then, there were mostly "Butterfly", "Eagle", and "Bagua" kites, all made of paper, unlike today's silk ones. Although they weren't as pretty as today's kites, they flew just as high and far. I once cried bitterly watching my kite get tangled with another and drift away. Now thinking about it, it was quite interesting.
Remember when every boy carried a small fruit knife in his pocket? During PE class or after school, find a relatively soft patch of muddy land, draw a large "日" or "田" grid, each person gets a section. In their own "territory", they stab three times with a knife. If the knife doesn't fall, they stab once in someone else's territory. Then, according to the direction of the knife, they draw a "boundary" for the opponent to choose from, continuing until the opponent has no "territory" left.
Also known as flipping coins, later came paper prints with various cartoon characters, mainly featuring characters from "The Investiture of the Gods", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and "Water Margin". I estimate most boys have played this game. After dinner, they would gather in public corridors to play. One way to play is called "leftover one", where each person stacks two cards together, flips them over with a palm slap, and whoever ends up with exactly one card wins.
Childhood memories are always so cute, countless. Climbing trees to fetch bird nests, fishing, catching loaches. If I have children, I will definitely let them have a meaningful childhood instead of sitting in front of a computer with glasses, tapping on the keyboard. I'm a big boy. If you want your child to have a different childhood, you can message me privately~ I'll take them to keep childhood alive.
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