Boomer & Gen X Kids Played 8 Games Growing Up That Most People Today Would Think Are Very Strange
Annie Spratt | Unsplash Play is important for children early in life. Even when it seems meaningless, it's actually the center of their development.
It helps them develop social skills and foster creativity, so playing games may be the perfect mix of fun and growth. Like the old-school boomer and Gen X games that most people today would think are strange, they hold a lot of power over kids' lives.
Games boomer and Gen X kids played that most people would think are strange today
1. Hūsker Dū?
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Now a nostalgic staple from the 1970s, and even a reworked band name, Hūsker Dū? is a game that probably only boomers and older Gen Xers remember. It was marketed as a way for young kids to beat or outsmart their parents at a game, much like "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" is today, but it also promoted better cognitive skills.
The game, which originated in Scandinavia before moving over to the United States, literally means "Do you remember?" in Danish. It's all about memory, with face-down cards and a spinning wheel that asked players to recount the images they'd already seen.
It certainly wasn't the first board game of this time to revolve around memory, but it's childhood royalty for Gen X and boomer kids who were offered a chance to compete with their parents.
2. Cat's cradle
Without a single origin country or specified creation date, cat's cradle is ironically one of the games that everyone seems to know without question. Many instructions came through random books, but what made it so popular was actually how accessible it was.
All you needed was a bit of string. You didn't even need a partner or another player if you didn't want one. The combinations and patterns were endless, whether you stuck with the classic game or went off to create a new one of your own.
3. Pinochle
As a trick-playing game that could sometimes last 30 to 40 minutes, the tradition of this goofy game revolved around cleverness and strategy. With winning streaks over time and a commitment to at least a few games over a few days, Pinochle was about the tradition of coming back.
For young people today who are only allured by instant gratification and struggle with their attention spans, old-school games like this seem like more effort and time than they're worth.
4. Click Clacks
Now rebranded as Newton's Yo Yo, Click Clacks were acrylic balls on strings that would clink together if you swung them around. Teaching kids indirectly about movement and gravity, they were fun.
They might not live up to the digital games and excitement of social media for young people today, but for kids back in the day, they were all the rage. Minus, of course, the fallout from when they'd break or be thrown around recklessly on the playground.
5. Red Rover
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With just one neighborhood gaggle of kids needed, Red Rover splits groups of kids into two opposing teams. They line up parallel to each other, holding hands with their team to create one long chain-link line.
Then, one team starts by chanting "Red Rover, Red Rover, send XX over," and that person from the other team must come forward and try to break through the human-made link.
It might seem ritualistic and strange to kids today, but for boomer and Gen X kids, this was an after school evening. If it meant holding hands with a crush or getting to know other kids in the neighborhood, the social advantages were endless.
6. Ring Around the Rosie
Many kids today are still learning and playing this classic game, despite the rumors of its alleged dark origin. Kids dance and skip around in a circle, holding their hands together. Usually everyone is reciting the same nursery rhyme: "Ring around the rosie, pocket full of posie, ashes ashes..."
When the last line hits, "we all fall down," all kids would fall to the ground together. In fits of laughter or arguments about someone who fell on them, kids would repeat this game over and over until they were tired out.
Most people today are familiar with this rhyme and the game, but to actually spend hours playing it with neighbors and friends feels like a complete waste of their time.
7. London Bridge
This classic game doesn't need a board or materials. Two kids line up, facing each other, and putting their arms together in the middle. A line of other friends or classmates takes turns walking under their arms, singing the catchy "London Bridge" tune.
When the song ends, the person who gets caught under the arm bridge loses. If they were lucky, the game started over, but it often evolved into asking a secret question to whoever was stuck under "the bridge."
Yes, video games can be good for the brain to a certain extent. But this kind of social interaction and problem-solving can't be beat when it comes to childhood development. With the social skills that come from secret questions and lining up with other kids, there's growth that happens here unexpectedly.
8. Pick-up sticks
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If kids today thought any other old-school game was strange, this one would blow their minds. It's exactly what it sounds like.
One player holds up the multicolored sticks, which you could make or buy from the store, and drops them. The other picks one stick up without moving any others. Then, the other does the same. They just pick up the sticks, without moving any others, until they're all gone. That's the game.
It might sound overly simple and boring to young people with constant stimulation and entertainment at their fingertips, but the simplicity is what made it fun for boomer and Gen X kids.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor's degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
