Childhood Games

Was watching this Chinese Variety show "国际交意所", hosted by Mark Lee. Well, it's a show where foreigners living in Singapore, who can speak Chinese, are invited to talk about their countries' cultures and compare to Singapore culture. It's very funny & interesting! I recommend you guys to watch it!

Anyway, one of the topics this past Tuesdays was about Childhood games! N it made me think of all the cool n fun games I/We played when we were young! Let's list it down one by one:

1) Zero point!

This is my favourite game & i excel in it! Essentially, it involves a string of rubber bands strung together. It involves 2 opposing teams. 1 team will be holding the rubber band, while the other team will be playing the game. By playing i mean 'jumping' over the band at varying heights. It starts on the floor, when you shout 'zero point' when u tip over. Then, 2nd level is knee where you have to jump over without touching the rubber band. After that, it's to cross over & u can touch the band. It proceeds from waist, to shoulder to ear, to head, to even higher height which is 1 arm above head level! A team can comprise of 3 or more pple, n at least 1 person muz be able to skip over the various level of height in order to stay in the game. Of cos, if u can't get over the height, u'r so-called out, and can only pray that your team mates can make it to keep the team alive!

Oh, n we play on the tar road, not smooth pavement but tar road! Imagine all those skipping n jumping. Often times, u even need ur hands to support u, so our hands were alwayz hole-poked by the tar road, but no major injuries! Esp whn u jump above waist level, u need to run from further distance n skip over! Haha fearless little kids!

Of cos when i say i excel, i reali excel! 1 arm above the head is no big deal for me! I can easily skip over the band! It's slightly advantageous for pple who r tall - well for obvious reasons! I rem i played tt almost e'ryday in primary school!! It's a good exercise also!

2) 5 stones

I'm sure most, if not all, of u know this game. We don't actually play with stones (too tough). Rather 5 small triangular sacks made of beans. I will try to explain how the game is played, tho it is easier to demonstrate!

u start with throwing all the 5 stones on the floor & let them fall randomly. Then pick 1 stone on hand, throw in the air while trying to pick up another stone on the floor and at the same time, catch hold of the 1 stone being thrown in the air. Do this until all stones r picked. If your hand touch any stones that have not been picked while you were trying to pick up another stone, u lose. Proceed to throw 1 stone up, & picking 2 stones from the floor, ending with 3 stones in hand. Then pick 3 stones to get 4 stones in hand, then pick 4 stones to get 5 stones in hand! Of cos throwing stones on the floor in the 1st place is a skill so that your stones r nicely arranged in the correct way to suit your different level. Also, when u'r picking the 1st stone to throw up, u have to make sure you don touch any other stone with tt stone. The last stage is u bunch up the 5 stones, put on the back of your hand, flip to catch it in your palm, then throw the 5 up and catch it in your hand. I think i'm quite good at this as well!

3) Hopscotch

I'm sure this is familiar to all of u. U jump the squares to reach the end n come back. Of cos, u hv to throw sth to land on the respective boxes in sequence, then as u jump the squares, u have to pick up your thing from the boxes b4 u can continue. Then jump back. The catch is, u can only hop on 1 leg!

4) Du4 Jiao3

Haha, this needs explanation. I have no idea what this translate to in english. But basically, it's like catching, but u catch by hopping 1-legged! It's a very strenous game & exercise!

5) I can't remember the name of the game

Basically, divide into 2 teams of equal number. Your objective is to reach the other end of the area without getting caught - which in this game means touched. It's complicated to explain in words, i'll try!

1 team starts at the other end of the area, the other team will position themselves at regular intervals of the area. The area (rectanglur area) will be divided into abt 5 sections. 1 person of the other team will be stationed to stand on each border of the section. The team leader will be at the forefront. The person standing on the border can only move horizontally along the length of his/her border (not even width) meaning he cannot walk 90degrees over to the width of his/her section. The team leader however, has the advantage of being able to walk all over all borders of teh area. When the game starts, the playing team will have to make a rush from one end to the other end, without being touched by the defending team. Mind you, the playing team can be 'trapped' in one section by the defenders n have to try to find a way to escape the touch of the defenders.

At times, the playing team can be trapped at the side of 1 rectangle section by 2 defenders (back n front), as long as his leg or any part of his body is within the area, he is still in the game. So most of the time, the leg is touching the line, but the body is outside to prevent being touched. At this time, the leader can walk over the sides of the area to touch him n he'll be out (Reminder: Only team leader of defender can move along the width of the area). This step MAY be a strategy to distract the defenders so that another team member can rush to the end line. It's really fun game!! Of cos, if u'r tall with long arms n legs, u can be a good defender! For defenders, they have to stay on the line, if one person step out, that person is out, & provides an opening for the playing team!

How fun are all these games!! Ah childhood! Nowadays, the children know only computer games. I remember by my sister's primary school time, zero point was out of fashion n tt was only 1yr after i graduate from pri sch in 1994. So sad! Our games when we were young were so inexpensive! Or even FOC!! Zero point, how cheap r rubber bands! 5 stones r damn cheap also. U can even make your own 5 stones!! Still rem the days when we all rush to the bookstore to buy bags of rubber bands to make zero points! Ahhhhh... Now it's all computer games, PS, Wii, DS.... Not fun! I wonder how I would fare if i were to play zero point again?

What other childhood games did you play? Maybe I missed out some.. Please share!