Hopscotch, Mother May I and a song about a cat that caught the flu... the sight and sounds of traditional games children once played outdoors have waned over the years, but with them go many learning benefits writes Denise Roberts
It is one of the oldest play-places in the world, where children play some of the most interesting games, tried and tested by centuries and passed on without reference to print, parliament or adult, write Peter and Iona Opie in their groundbreaking book Children's Games in Street and Playground.
For years, sociologists, cultural commentators and educators have cried the loss of traditional street and playground games such as Blind Man's Buff and Hopscotch - so much so that the cry itself has become traditional.
However, today's technological world shows strong indication that we may be finally living with that reality.
Playing out today is rare as children spend more time indoors front of the television or computer and being ferried everywhere in the car. We have an over-sanitised approach to childrearing which has been linked to the rise in learning and health conditions such as dyspraxia, asthma and obesity.
In her book, Toxic Childhood, Sue Palmer says that loss of opportunities for ‘outdoor, loosely supervised play' has a long term effect on children's physical, emotional and social development.
Parents should, of course, protect their children by teaching them about stranger danger and road safety, but also need find ways of making outdoor ‘free' play safe.
Jeers and taunts
Another benefit is the learning gained from children's lore. The jeers, taunts, calls, chants, mock speeches, humorous narratives, rhymes, backwards and nonsense verses in children's lore give plenty of opportunity to practise phonology, lexis, grammar, syntax and semantics without the children being aware.
The belief that traditional games are disappearing sometimes leads to playground supervisors, playleaders, parents and teachers teaching them. Some commentators disagree with this, saying that ‘Its whole value lies in the fact that it is not ours to promote. It is our children's lore. All we can do is recognise its virtues and give children the time and freedom they need to make it flourish.'
There maybe some truth in this. The Opies found that the games that flourish are those that adults least approve of (chases in the dark and, quite understandably, knife throwing games), or those such as ball bouncing and long rope skipping with which adults are ordinarily least able to show proficiency.
‘We have look the fact that as we have grown older our interests have changed, we have given up haunting the spaces where children play, we no longer have eyes for the games, and not noticing them suppose them to have vanished.'
