Games and Activities
of Pioneer Children
There were several games played by pioneer children that are still played today in homes, schools, and on the playground. Hide-and-Seek, baseball, jump rope, tag, and string games are just a few. Word games were played both at home and at school, because these games helped the children learn language skills. Games involving guessing were also popular, because these games were good brain exercises and helped students develop their thinking skills.
Directions are provided below for several of the games that were played during the early settlement era and are still played today. There are many more that are not covered; therefore, research more games pioneer children played. In addition, find out what types of toys the children of that time period played with to occupy any free time they may have had.
| Outdoor Games | ||
| Fox and Geese | Drop the Handkercheif | Dare Base |
| Shadow Tag | Last Couple Out | Blind Man's Bluff |
| Chain Tag | Marbles | |
| Indoor Games | ||
| Hot and Cold | Ducks Fly | Jack Straws |
| Simon Says | Who Has the Button | Checkers |
| Math Buzz | Mental Arithmetic | I Have a Basket |
| Twenty Questions | Cupid's Coming | Taboo |
Several web sites give directions for games played by pioneer children, along with the types of toys that were played with for entertainment.
- http://www.saskschools.ca/~gregory/fun.html. This site lists several games pioneer children played. They include indoor, outdoor, active, inactive, and group games.
- http://library.thinkquest.org/6400/toys1.htm shows photos on how to play with several pioneer toys.
- http://www.awhc.org/ pdf lists several pioneer games. It is in a PDF format.
- www.ldssplash.com site has live links which gives instructions on how to play several pioneer games (e.g., Jack Straws, Blindman’s Bluff, etc.).
