Please Mister Crocodile ... Stop Her Wallowing in The Seventies

Before computer games,  before video games – in other words, back when indoor games were either board games or card games -  many of us “Seventies Kids” enjoyed fabulous yard and playground games.   A few of those games have survived; many have not.

Interesting place for the kiddies to play eh?

Apart from the stock-standards Chasey and Hide-n-Seek, Brandy (or Branding) was simply about trying to dodge or out-run someone who was intent on pelting you hard with a tennis ball.  The ‘branding’ was supposed to be legs only, but of course some players aimed too high (not always by accident, especially if they were taunted enough) and the game would end in tears.

I’m trying to recall whether this was the same as Red Rover -  perhaps someone can advise me?  Possibly it might now be banned in today’s politically-correct schoolyards

I doubt Clapping Games still have currency – certainly my youngest daughter hasn’t a clue what I’m on about when I mention it.   These games (usually one-on-one) involved some rather complex clapping patterns, as you chanted a ditty - “Under The Brown Bush” was the best-known one. .  My favourite was “Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar?” although it could get spectacularly boring after a couple of minutes.  (A bit like this blog).

Skipping has become more of a sport than the pure fun it once was. You may remember the four basic skips (high, low, jolly, pepper) and the rope game that arose from them?  The only other one I recall is “My Mother Said.”  

Better still was Elastics (which needs no explanation for those who remember how much fun a minimum of three people could have with a long piece of elastic, knotted into a loop).  

Chalked games on the ground – variations of hopscotch – were perhaps of an earlier time, although we did some elaborate spiral variations of them.  

But it didn’t come more low-tech than standing face-out from a wall, doing clever things with a tennis ball tied into a stocking leg.  A variation on this involved tying the stocking to your ankle and artfully moving along as the ball constantly circled one ankle. 

Here’s a game that may perhaps have different versions in different states/countries: “Please Mr Crocodile.”  The rest of the chant was “may I cross the Jordan River without getting wet?”   “Mr Crocodile” would reply “only if you’re wearing the color .... “(names color).   If you were wearing it, you could safely cross the ‘river’ patrolled by Mr Crocodile, but if not, you had to run the gauntlet.  So desperate were some of us to cross safely, we weren’t above flashing our knickers if it provided the  color-match.  (I still recall my great joy when Mum one day bought me home a pair of mutli-colored knickers)

And finally Statues (a.k.a. in Australia as “Creepy Up”) – a game which has stood the test of time, though is not the daily occurrence it was in schoolyards of the 1970s.  The person who was “It” faced a wall, as the others stood in a line some distance behind, and attempted to creep up on “It,” without being caught moving (ie freezing to a ‘statue’) when “It” sporadically turned around to try and catch you out.  The goal was to reach “It” and tap him/her on the back, then rush back to the starting line as "It" gave chase and tried to catch you.  Screaming optional.