What did colonial kids do for fun?

-played games -told stories

-shared riddles -played sports

-sang songs -danced

Ball and Cup Toy

Bilbo Catcher

Played like volleyball (the stool, instead of a net, separates the twoteams) two teams volley the ball back and forth until the ball isdropped. The person who dropped the ball must roll or throw the ballat the stool, if they do not hit the stool, the opposite team gets twopoints, if they do hit the stool, their team gets one point. The firstteam to get 31 points wins!

In his history, Of Plymouth Plantation, GovernorWilliam Bradford reported that several colonistswere caught playing stool ball on Christmas day,1620.These colonists had remained home tocelebrate the Christmas while those who did notbelieve in the holiday continued the work ofbuilding the colony. When those who workedreturned they found that the others, rather thanspending the day in “pious devotion”, wereplaying stool ball and other sports. The governortook away their gaming equipment and chastisedthem for reveling in the streets.

Nine Pins

Each player gets two turns to knock down as many pins as theycan. Points are based on how many pins you knock down. Thefirst player to 31 wins.

Does Nine Pins remind you of anything?…..

Battledore and Shuttlecock

is similar to lawn tennis or badminton andwas quite popular in colonial and Victoriantimes.

During the time of Europeancontact, Native Americans wereplaying a game that we now calllacrosse.

Apart from its recreational function, lacrossetraditionally played a more serious role inIndian culture. Its origins are rooted in legend,and the game continues to be used forcurative purposes and surrounded withceremony. Game equipment and players arestill ritually prepared by conjurers, and teamselection and victory are often consideredsupernaturally controlled. In the past,lacrosse also served to vent aggression, andterritorial disputes between tribes weresometimes settled with a game, although notalways amicably

A version of this game is knownto have been played in ancientGreece. It arrived in Englandsometime around 1100AD. NineMen’s Morris seems to havebeen very popular with schoolboys since playing boards areoften found carved into schooldesks and benches.

Its kind of similar to tic-tac-toe…

The game of Graces dates back to the 1830's.This two player game features two wooden,ribboned hoops and four catching wands tofling the Graces' hoops back and forth.Graces was often referred to as a girl's gameas it was meant to encourage 'gracefulness','hence its name.

Copyright©2006FineArtsMuseumsofSanFrancisco

Late 18th

centuryice skates

Leap Frog is actually a a collection ofhopping and leaping games that datesback to ancient times. The two mostpopular leap frog games are “giving aback” and “foot an’ half”.

Some you may be familiar with and some you may not!

Yo-yo

Puzzles

Kite flying

Jump rope

London Bridge

Hunt the slipper

Spinning Tops

Jacob’s Ladder

Bow and Arrow

Blind Man’s Bluff

See Saw

Ring Taw

Bubble-blowing

Marbles

Rocking horses

Swinging

Cards

Five Stones

In colonialtimes,dolls werecalled“puppetsor“babies”.

This doll is from the late 18th century.

Late 18th century

In colonialtimes,“Jack”was ageneralterm for ayoungman.Therefore,a jack-knife mayhavemeant “aboy’sknife.

A good jack-knife was the most highly desiredpossession of a boy. Lots of days of wearywork and pleading were done before a boywould acquire suck a prize.

Doll and chest of drawers are on display atthe Peabody Essex Museum.

High chest ofdrawers , 1790with veneeredand painteddecoration.

“Emmeline” ,18th century,“Queen Annewooden dollwith a dressfrom the 1830’speriod.

Excavation since 1994has uncovered hundredsof thousands of artifactsdating to the first half ofthe 17th century. Nearlyhalf of the objects dateto the first years ofEnglish settlement(1607-1610). The site ofJames Fort was notwashed into the river asmost people believed forthe past 200 years.

This is a lead figurine ofa boy who appears tobe dancing. It is about 3cm long and was foundin the It may be a toybrought for theamusement of an adultor child in the colony

The lead boy could also bean object intended for tradewith the Indians. Eightsimilar leaden figures wererecovered duringexplorations of a 1596Dutch encampment in thearctic region of NovaZembla. These toys, whichare depicting classicalmythological figures, werecarried as trade goods byan expedition trying to finda north-east passage toChina.

Twelve gaming dice have beenfound during the excavations.

Most are made of bone, but twoare ivory and one is lead and

was probably made by a soldiercasting lead shot in the fort.

Pass-dice was a popular gameof the time in which two players

would try to throw doubles.Every die that has been

excavated at Jamestown isabout the size of a pencil eraser.

The dimensions may relate tothe martial laws in the colony,which forbade soldiers from"dicing." The men made theirdice very small so the piecescould easily be hidden from

their superior officers.

This bone gaming piece or token is about 3_ cm in diameter. It couldhave been used in board games such as backgammon or as a gamblingtoken.

Your assignment:

You are going to select any one colonialgame or toy you saw in studentpresentations, in this PowerPoint or inyour own research, to re-create andmodernize.

Essentially, you are going to create aNEW version of that game/toy that youthink kids would want to use/play today.

1. Spend a little more time researching…make sureyou’ve found a toy/game that you like and that youthink can be re-made in a new way.

2. Sketch out what your new game/toy will look like.

3. Write a description of how you plan to make it and/orany playing modifications you may make.

4. Think about your step-by step process and materials.

5. Meet and discuss with me.

6. Get started….this is going to be fun!

1. Computer: you can submit your entire project asa PowerPoint, doing all the graphics on thecomputer.

2. Clay: air dry or kiln-fire (maybe to create gamepieces or game boards).

3. Paper-Marche (for game pieces, dolls…)

4. Wood and tech lab materials (for game boards,pieces, paddles)

5. Found objects

6. Cardboard/ foam core

The materials you choose have to be appropriate for whatever gameor toy you are making. (For example, you wouldn’t make Nine Pinsout of ceramics!)

Get creative! The possibilities are endless!

1.Color- add/change color or painting style.

2. Shape- changing shape of game pieces/ gameboard

3. Characters- turn pieces into characters

4. More challenging.

5. More relevant (make a doll in amore 21st centurystyle

6. Make the game a computer game

…and much, much more!

I KNOW you will all come upwith great ideas….giveyourself time to think it

through. Ask your peers oryour totally awesome artteacher if you need a little

help focusing.

This is going to be GREAT!