Editor’s Note: Last week, we asked readers to suggest topics for discussion. Colorado Springs resident Penny Bever suggested several, including “What is your favorite childhood memory?” And “What was your favorite outdoor game as a kid?” Why is this your everyone’s favorite game? Libby Kinder (a North Springs Edition freelance writer) responded to the above with the following. If you have an additional answer to this question, or if you would like to suggest a new topic for discussion, please email it (limit 300 words) to editor Michelle Karas at [email protected]. Submissions are subject to change.

Childhood memories of fun and games

During the 1950s and 1960s, our block on West 67th Street in Kansas City, Missouri was the playground for all the kids who lived there. If the weather was good, the kids would play games outside in the streets, front yards and back yards. It was another era, with minimal supervision, where only movement, imagination and invented games reigned supreme.

There was always someone to play with, including my brother and two sisters. In our garden we had a sandbox and a metal swing. Countless hours were spent building sandcastles and pretending we were acrobats and gymnasts. When Mum took off the clotheslines, we got into competitive games of badminton and croquet. Badminton was so popular that for years there were bald areas on the lawn where energetic games were played.

The street games consisted of “Mother May I”, baseball and kickball. If a car had to pass, we would just pull away. A favorite evening game was called “Capture the Flag” and involved stealth maneuvers to secure the other team’s flag and run with it to safe territory. Even the older kids wanted to play!

The evenings were filled with catching lightning insects, picking up locust shells and smashing them (Ewwwww!), And building elaborate tents out of blankets and bedspreads. Sometimes we even slept there all night!

Idyllic times? Yes definitely !!

Libby Kinder, Colorado Sources