Playing with Friends

Some of the best experiences you had as a child probably were playing games while hanging out with your friends. But which games were the most popular? From the data I collected, here are the results.

Tag

One of the most common games people have played is tag; it was one of the most fun games to play with friends. Versions of this game include Freeze Tag, Infection, Wood Chips, Hide n’ Seek Tag, and even throwing various types of balls at people to tag them out. Tag was a great way to spend time playing with friends, forming bonds, and also a great cardio exercise. Tag is a game that can be played almost anywhere with friends. At least 2 people are required to play and there is no limit to the additions that can be made to the game. The way you play tag is by selecting 1 or more people to be the “tagger” and the rest are runners who try to avoid the people that are “it”. Variations of this game, such as Freeze Tag, require the tagger to tag someone, which makes the runner frozen and then they have to sit in place waiting for a friend to tag him/her to unfreeze. Wood Chips is fun because it limits you to one area and the way the game is played is normally around some sort of structure where the tagger can only see on the wood chips, but as soon as they set foot on the structure they have to close their eyes. The tagger could also get you out if they call “wood chips”. If someone is on the wood chips when it is called they become the new tagger. A game related to Freeze Tag is called Infection. In infection you do not get frozen but you become infected and have to help the original tagger tag everyone else.

4 Corners

Four Corners was a game most kids have probably played. It was always really fun seeing everyone sneaking around, trying to make as little noise as possible. 4 Corners is a game you play mainly in a closed space. One person is selected to stand in the middle and the rest of the players equally in each of the 4 corners. The person in the middle has to select a corner and whoever is in that corner is out. After that corner is called, people can choose to leave their corner or stay. While they are moving the person in the middle will start counting loudly enough so that everyone can hear them. When the timer stops, everyone should be in a corner. With the middle person’s eyes still closed they say a number that corresponds to the corner it is assigned to. When that number is called, whoever is in the corner assigned to the number is out. The goal of this game is to be the last one to survive. The last person still in is then moved to the middle where the game can be restarted and played again. This game takes almost no time to set up because all you need is a group of people and a room or area with 4 corners. 

9 Squares

9 Squares was a fun game that was similar to King of the Hill. 9 Squares is a game played within a square that has 9 squares evenly placed inside of the square. Structures aligned with the perimeter of the 9 squares are at least 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide. This game is mainly played with a gym ball or volleyball. The goal of the game is to make it around the squares and into the center. You start with one person in the middle who will serve the ball to any of the surrounding squares. The middle person’s goal is to get any of the surrounding people out and maintain his position. To get someone to reset back at the start means getting the ball through their box and touching the ground. Each person has 1 hit to get it over their box and into someone else’s.

While these are just a few original childhood games, they have been and continue to be some of the best! Playing outside has definitely become underrated, but passing down such traditional games like these can help promote a love for the outdoors and good health.