This is a list of

game A game is a structured type 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 video games) or art ...

s that are played by

children A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

. Traditional children's games do not include commercial products such as

board games A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...

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, toy sets, and toy systems; the toys included are widely popular (either currently or historically) and provide illustrative examples of specific types of toys. Action figures * Army men * B-Daman * Bakugan * Dra ...

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 () is a ladder or staircase 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 the dream has been de ...

" is a toy). Despite being transmitted primarily through

word of mouth Word of mouth 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 person tells others a ...

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.

History

From the 18th century onwards, researchers have taken a greater interest in the value of traditional games in elucidating cultural values and identities. The modern

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

were influenced by this thinking, and were founded by

Pierre de Coubertin Charles Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin (; born Pierre de Frédy; 1 January 1863 – 2 September 1937), also known as Pierre de Coubertin and Baron de Coubertin, was a French educator and historian, co-founder of the International Olympic ...

on the basis of "All games, all nations", though this aspect of the Olympics was never fully realised and quickly faded away after a few years, with mainly only

Western sports Western sports are sports that are strongly associated with the Western world, West. Many modern sports were invented in or standardized by Western countries; in particular, many major sports were invented in the United Kingdom after the Industrial ...

being played. In some European countries, the revival of traditional games has served as a way for regional identities to be expressed in a political or educational way.

Tag games

Hiding games

Hide-and-seek Hide-and-seek (sometimes known as hide-and-go-seek) is a 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 chosen playe ...

Peekaboo Peekaboo (also spelled peek-a-boo) is a form of play played with an infant. To play, one player hides their face, pops back into the view of the other, and says ''Peekaboo!'', sometimes followed by ''I see you!'' There are many variations: for ...

Sardines Sardine and pilchard are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring suborder Clupeoidei. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century; a somewhat dubious etymology says it come ...

Games with equipment

Jumping games

* Ampe, from

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

* Double Dutch (jump rope) *

Jumping Jack 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 spread wide. The hands go overhead, sometimes in a clap, and then return ...

s *

Jumping rope A skipping rope (or jump rope) is a tool used in a sport involving rhythmic jumping over a rope swung underfoot and overhead. The activity, practiced both recreationally and competitively, encompasses disciplines such as freestyle routines—f ...

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

Leapfrog Leapfrog is a children's game of physical movement of the body 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.

Hopping games

Hopscotch Hopscotch is a 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 children's ...

Langa (game) Nigeria has several traditional games, though they have faded away due to lack of support and the dominance of Western sports. Traditional games historically played a significant role in teaching Nigerian children about the structure of their socie ...

Squid (game) Squid (, ) is a children's game played in South Korea. The game is named as such because the shape of the playing field drawn on the ground somewhat resembles the shape of a squid. There are regional variations of the name such as "squid " (wit ...

Memory games

Chinese whispers Telephone (American English and Canadian English), or Chinese whispers (some Commonwealth English), is an internationally popular children's game in which messages are whispered from person to person and then the original and final messages are ...

(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'', ...

* Here Comes an Old Soldier from Botany Bay (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 Scouts,''Scouting Games'' by Sir Robert S. S. Baden-Powell, 1921. Chapter IVOnline version at US Scouting Serviceaccessed July 2008. the military, and other groups, in which a selection of objects must b ...

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 (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? Truth or dare? is a mostly verbal party game requiring two or more players. Players are given the choice between answering a question truthfully, or performing a "dare". The game is particularly popular among adolescents and children, and is so ...

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 Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

Children's A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...

Children's, List of