Hopscotch is officially 'The Greatest Playground Game of all Time'.
The simple game, which involves hopping between designated squares on a chalk grid, dates back to Roman times.
The game was used for military training exercises; Roman foot soldiers ran in full armour and field packs along hopscotch courts which were over 100 feet long to improve their foot work.
Roman children then imitated the soldiers, drawing their own smaller grids on the ground. The game is still popular in playgrounds today.
Our poll of 3,000 adults put Hide and Seek in second place.
The timeless childhood game – also known as ‘Tag’ - can take place anywhere, but was always most popular in the playground.
Involving two or more players, the object of the game is for one person to hide whilst the other counts and then seeks.
Third place goes to skipping. The game of jumping over a rope has been practiced by children across the world for centuries – in ancient China a game called ‘Ancient Rope Jumping’ was one of the favourite sports during the New Year festival.
And there are several techniques used in the game, including double dutch, criss cross and toad.
'What’s the Time Mr Wolf?' takes fourth place in the poll. The chasing game involves all the players calling out “what’s the time Mr Wolf?”; the wolf then replies “four o’clock” and the players move forward said number of places.
When Mr Wolf shouts out “dinner time” he chases the players behind him and the first he catches takes up the position of Mr Wolf.
Fifth place in TheBabyWebsite Poll goes to another tag-based game British Bulldog – the traditional rough and tumble game which has been banned by many schools for being too violent.
But for many nostalgic respondents this game brings back fond memories of the scabby knees they endured after charging into their mates as ‘bulldogs’ in an attempt to reach the other side of the playground.
Playground Games evoke strong memories for many adults, and we can all remember chasing our friends round the playground at break time. We have a genuine fondness for games such as Hopscotch and British Bulldog, as they sealed friendships and defined who we hung out with when not in lessons.
In sixth place is Conkers – another playground classic which has been banned in many schools due to ridiculous health and safety regulations.
Kiss Chase – the game which involves chasing friends around to catch and kiss them – came seventh.
Chinese Whispers, Cats Cradle and Oranges and Lemons complete the top ten.
TOP 20 PLAYGROUND GAMES
1. Hopscotch
2. Hide and Seek
3. Skipping
4. What’s the Time Mr Wolf?
5. British Bulldog
6. Conkers
7. Kiss Chase
8. Chinese Whispers
9. Cats Cradle
10. Oranges and Lemons
11. Football
12. Blind Man’s Bluff
13. Stick in the Mud
14. Cops and Robbers
15. Farmers in His Den
16. It
17. Elastics
18. Please Mr Crocodile
19. Jacks
20. Duck, Duck, Goose
February 2009
Poll conducted by OnePoll
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