Going retro for the holidays

MIRAH LANGER

This year, why not choose to have a “tech-no” time, and entertain your children with some of these classic games of yesteryear. Remember hide and seek and hopscotch; gumi jump rope and jacks; tag; tin can telephones; tree climbing; I spy; and mud pies?

The SA Jewish Report spoke to some once-upon-a-childhood connoisseurs au fait with the art of good-old-fashioned fun for ideas and suggestions.

“We used to play outside the Standard 2 classrooms next to the tennis courts,” reminisces Bev Rosenfeld, a native Johannesburger and gumi champion of note circa the 1970s.

Gumi, which is the Hebrew word for elastic, is a game of jumping skills that swops out the skipping rope for its namesake material. A piece of elastic is tied together on either end, two people hold it, with one person showing their jumping skills.

The two holding the gumi stand with the elastic stretched between them a few metres apart, with the elastic held open around the back of their ankles. Then as the person showing her skills performs, the players raise the elastic to their knees, hips, waists, even shoulders to make it harder for the jumper.

“When you jump, you have to land with both feet at the same time, otherwise you are out, and you then have your turn at the elastic, while one of those who had been holding it has their turn at showing their skills.”

The size of the gap in the elastic becomes smaller, and the number of bounces when jumping doubles in variations of the game which begin to sound Olympian in their scope.

“It was a challenge, but as children, we were always fit!” Rosenfeld says.

Another one of Rosenfeld’s childhood memories includes an ingenious early precursor to WhatsApp.

She recalls how when it was past their bedtime, she and her brother found a way to keep chatting: “We tied a string, with an envelope attached, that ran outside from his window to mine. We used to pass notes to each other using this system when we were supposed to be sleeping.”

When it came to long car trips, the family kept things sporty. “We would play car cricket. Different cars that you see on the road have a different score. If you spot a fancy sports car, you strike a six; if you see a truck, it’s a four, and so on. But if a white car passes you by, you’re out!”

This type of creativity, imagination, and interaction is at the core of many of the childhood games and capers of yesteryear.

“Fun for many children today is, ‘We went shopping; we went to the movies; we went to this show; we played that computer game.’ When I was a child, we literally made our own fun. We entertained ourselves growing up in Glenhazel.

“We made up the games: shop-shop, school-school. My best game was playing library-library. I took books from my mother’s shelf, and I made little cards for the library, and then my dolly would come and I would stamp the piece of paper.”

Mandy Lampert Rosin says that she and her two older brothers would put on plays and performed “silly tricks”, even charging the no-doubt eager neighbours who served as an audience.

One time, “I remember someone threw water over my brother, and that was the highlight of the play!”

Marbles was a pursuit that took great dedication and, when played at school, led to a speedy rush out of the classroom for break.

“At home, we closed all the interleading doors from the passage and played. At school, we used to run out at break to get our spot and declare, ‘Roll up, roll up: come win a marble’.”

Although there are numerous types of games played with marbles, the most common is to place marbles from all the players in a circle. You then use another marble to try and knock one of the marbles out the circle. If you are playing ‘for friendlies’, the accolade is your only reward, but if you are playing ‘for keeps’, well then, that marble becomes yours.

For Esther Gluckmann, some of the games she played as a child in Lyndhurst form the basis of activities she employs in her teaching. “We had a game with a ball where you bounce it according to the letters of the alphabet. You say the same phrase, but keep changing the first letter of the names. So you bounce, and start by saying, ‘A my name is Anthea and my husband’s name is Andrew. We live in Alberton and we sell apples.’ You are only allowed one bounce for each word that changes. If you bounce more because you are thinking, you are out, and it’s the next person’s turn.”

Gluckmann recalls enjoying crafts such as coin and leaf rubbings. For this, she remembers raiding the garden to pick petals worthy of Picasso. “We would pick flowers and leaves and put them in between encyclopedias, and then leave them for a week. Once they were pressed, we would stick them on paper and make pictures and cards.”

Ultimately, Gluckmann believes that their type of play was privileged. “We were a lot more mobile, and we spent a lot more time outdoors. Also, we learnt to play fair, and with good sportsmanship. We learned that it was okay not to win, and it was okay if a game was just for the fun of it.”

Indeed, psychologist Bianca Blumberg, who works extensively with children and teenagers, corroborates the gut instinct of these glory-day gamers. “Non-tech, old school games allow face-to-face interaction that helps build social skills which otherwise get lost or are quite different to those obtained from sitting behind a computer or video game.

“Children are also able to learn patience as they wait for turns. They are able to tune into the emotional atmosphere of what is going on with the people around them. They learn to read nuance in facial expression and gesture.”

Ultimately, for parents, beyond the specifics of the games they play, “the most important gift that one can give their child is just quality time: for them to know they have your undivided attention,” says Blumberg.

“Really getting involved, just having fun and laughing, sends such a wonderful message to your child. It’s a memory that your child will hold in their mind for years to come.”