This is a list of

game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

s that used to be played by

children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

, some of which are still being played today. Traditional children's games do not include commercial products such as board games but do include games which require props such as hopscotch or marbles (toys go in

List of toys This article is a list of toys; the toys included are both widely popular (either currently or historically) and provide illustrative examples of specific types of toys. Action figures * Army men * B-Daman * Digital pet * Evel Knievel Acti ...

unless the toys are used in multiple games or the single game played is named after the toy; thus "jump rope" is a game, while "

Jacob's ladder Jacob's Ladder ( he, סֻלָּם יַעֲקֹב ) is a ladder leading to heaven that was featured in a dream the biblical Patriarch Jacob had during his flight from his brother Esau in the Book of Genesis (chapter 28). The significance of th ...

" is a toy). Despite being transmitted primarily through

word of mouth Word of mouth, or ''viva voce'', is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one pe ...

due to not being considered suitable for academic study or adult attention, traditional games have, "not only failed to disappear but have also evolved over time into new versions." Traditional children's games are defined, "as those that are played informally with minimal equipment, that children learn by example from other children, and that can be played without reference to written rules. These games are usually played by children between the ages of 7 and 12, with some latitude on both ends of the age range." "Children's traditional games (also called folk games) are those that are passed from child to child, generation to generation, informally by word of mouth," and most children's games include at least two of the following six features in different proportion: physical skill, strategy, chance, repetition of patterns, creativity, and vertigo.

Tag games

Hiding games

Hide-and-go-seek Hide-and-seek (sometimes known as hide-and-go-seek) is a popular children's game in which at least two players (usually at least three) conceal themselves in a set environment, to be found by one or more seekers. The game is played by one chose ...

Sardines "Sardine" and "pilchard" are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century, a folk etymology says it comes from the I ...

Games with equipment

Jumping games

* Ampe, from

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

* Double Dutch (jump rope) *

Hopscotch Hopscotch is a popular playground game in which players toss a small object, called a lagger, into numbered triangles or a pattern of rectangles outlined on the ground and then hop or jump through the spaces and retrieve the object. It is a ch ...

Jumping Jack __NOTOC__ A jumping jack, also known as a star jump and called a side-straddle hop in the US military, is a physical jumping exercise performed by jumping to a position with the legs A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical stru ...

s *

Jumping rope A skipping rope (British English) or jump rope (American English) is a tool used in the sport of skipping/jump rope where one or more participants jump over a rope swung so that it passes under their feet and over their heads. There are multi ...

(Skipping rope) * Jumpsies (also known as Chinese jump rope, elastics, or gummitwist) *

Leapfrog Leapfrog is a children's game in which players vault over each other's stooped backs. History Games of this sort have been called by this name since at least the late sixteenth century.Leapfrog
, ''Merriam-Webster.com''. Accessed June 27, 2015.

Memory games

Chinese whispers Chinese whispers (some Commonwealth English) or telephone (American English and Canadian English) is an internationally popular children's game. It is also called transmission chain experiments in the context of cultural evolution research, and ...

(Telephone) *

Concentration In chemistry, concentration is the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture. Several types of mathematical description can be distinguished: '' mass concentration'', ''molar concentration'', ''number concentration'', an ...

Here Comes an Old Soldier from Botany Bay Here Comes an Old Soldier from Botany Bay, commonly known as Here Comes an Old Soldier or just Old Soldier, is a nursery rhyme and List of traditional children's games, children's game found in Australia, the United States, and the British Isles. T ...

(Old Soldier) *

I packed my bag I packed my bag is a memory game often played as a car game. In the traditional version of the game, one person says "I packed my bag and in it I put...", and names any object. The next person then says "I packed my bag and in it I put...", followe ...

Kim's Game Kim's Game is a game or exercise played by Boy Scouts,''Scouting Games'' by Sir Robert S. S. Baden-Powell, 1921. Chapter IVOnline version at US Scouting Serviceaccessed July, 2008. Girl Scouts and Girl Guides, the military, and other groups, in wh ...

Parlour games

Hunt the Thimble Hunt the thimble (also known as hide the thimble or hide the handkerchief in both the US and the UK) is a party game in which one person hides a thimble, or other small object, somewhere in the room, while all other players wait outside. (In some ...

(Hot and Cold) *

Huckle buckle beanstalk Huckle may refer to: * Huckle (surname) * Mount Huckle, a mainly ice-covered mountain * Thomas Huckle Weller (born 1915), American virologist * Huckle Cat a children's fictional character from Richard Scarry Books. People with the surname Huckle: ...

(Hot buttered beansGryski (1998), p.16.) *

I spy I spy is a guessing game where one player (the ''spy'' or ''it'') chooses an object within sight and announces to the other players that "I spy with my little eye something beginning with...", naming the first letter of the object. Other players a ...

* Truth or Dare? *

Wink Murder Wink murder is a party game or parlour game in which a secretly selected player is able to "kill" others by winking at them, while the surviving players try to identify the killer. The game is also variously known as murder wink, killer, murder i ...

Hand games

Other traditional children's games

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Children's games, List of *

Games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

Children's A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

Children's, List of