You probably know how to play charades, or bean-bag toss, or how to make shadow animals. You might even remember Cootie (I do!) But do you know how to play Up Jenkins? Or, You Have a Face? Or, I Went to Paris? What in the world is Dumb Crambo? Do you know the elements of Four Elements? If you were a child in 1931, you might know. One of the little gems in our collection is a 1931 handbook from the Colorado Cooperative Extension, which explains games children could play using everyday objects — very handy for parents during the Great Depression who couldn’t always afford to buy toys for their children. Games used food items (e.g. Egg Shell Polo, Rice Relay), household items (e.g., Clothespin Race or games using pictures from magazines and catalogs), or natural materials (games using snowballs or flowers). Other games used no physical items but were instead games of memory, thinking, or music. Take a look to find some games your own children or grandchildren could learn to play — a fun and interactive way of teaching history.
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