[redgoast]

Originally Posted by Nedibes

I just posted a related post on the Iowa forum, but I need the Michigan perspective, too.

I grew up in Lansing, and one of my cherished childhood memories is of playing clapping games, jump rope and chinese jump rope on the playground. I now volunteer at my children's school in a small town in Iowa, and they literally play NONE of these games. They participate in "Jump Rope for Heart" but otherwise there are no jump ropes to be found (except maybe in PE). They also don't play four-square, although that does require painting four squares on concrete somewhere in addition to a ball (they have balls and basketball hoops). I especially miss the clapping games--Miss Susie Had a Baby/Tugboat, Dr. Knickerbocker, Rockin' Robin, etc.--which require no equipment other than at least two sets of hands.

So my question is: Is this a generational thing, an Iowa thing, or a small town thing? The clapping games and jump rope rhymes especially were passed down from one generation of school girls to the next, not so much from mother-to-daughter, so I imagine anyone from my generation at my elementary school would remember the same ones I do, but they might easily differ in details from someone who attended a different elementary school at the same time; I expect there would be similarities but with evolutionary variations for people who attended the same school at different times. I guess it's possible that they would die out over time, but it seems more likely that they would just never take root in a particular school.

So, what's your experience? If you went to school in a small town in Michigan, were these games played? If you know school children in Michigan, are they played there now?

Many thanks for your thoughts! I know this is a minor issue, but it's been bothering me.

Oh, and if you DID play these games, do you remember any favorites? Just curious about that. I was actually looking forward to my daughter being old enough to bring home some new, Iowa games, but alas...so maybe I could get a "fix" here .

I grew up a military brat living all over the world. Everyone played those games everywhere I lived... Small town or large city. North American, Europe, or Asia.

Tether Ball was also popular in Germany... It wasn't just a small town or Michigan/Iowa thing.

I know a few kids who still play those games, but mostly because they're father makes them go outside in the summer and won't let them play video games during the summer afternoons.