Games We Played IV

Anti I Over

For this game you need a one-story building like a garage, a bunch of kids and a ball.  The kids split up into 2 teams, one team on each side of the building.  Team I throws the ball over the building and yells, ‘Anti I Over.’  Team II tries to catch the ball before it hits the ground.  If someone succeeds in catching it, they all sneak around the building and the player who caught the ball tries to touch opposing players with it before they reach the safety of the halfway mark.  Tagged Team 1 players become members of Team II.

If Team II did not catch the ball, one player of that team throws it back over the building, again yelling ‘Anti I Over.’  The team that captures all the players wins.  Players must be alert and watchful after they throw the ball, ready to run the second they see or hear the other team coming around the building.  The attacking team must be stealthy.

 Bird, Beast or Fish

The players sit facing the leader, who names one of the players and says ‘bird’ (or ‘beast’ or ‘fish’).  The designated player must name a bird before the leader counts to ten, a bird that has not been previously named in the same game.  If the player fails to come up with a name, he/she is ‘out’.  The game continues until only one player remains.  That player becomes the new leader.

Pump Pump Pull-away

Two teams would line up facing each other, about 100’ apart.  One member of Team I, the catcher, would stand between the 2 lines and shout ‘Pump, Pump, Pull-away, Come Away or I’ll pull you away!’  The two teams then dashed across the open area, changing sides.  The catcher tried to tag members of Team II as they ran across.  Tagged players then became members of Team I.  The game continued until everybody was on the same team.

Grade School Games

Small country grade schools were still common in the mid 1900s.  My siblings and I all attended the same 2-story school located 1.5 miles from our farm.  The grades were divided into 2 groups, 1-4 and 5-8, one teacher per group.  There were 6 kids in my class, average size at that time.  The students were free to do whatever they wanted during the lunch break.  The teachers orchestrated games during the phy-ed break, most co-ed.

On frigid winter days, we’d stay inside and play some of the games previously mentioned.  Outside games included softball, fox and geese, red rover, pump pump pull-away.  Teachers also coordinated track competitions: footraces, high jump, long jump, relays, softball throw and so on.