Seriously. When’s the last time you played a game that’s traditionally only played by kids? Kickball, tag, hide and seek, four square, etc.? Were you playing with kids? Have you ever played with other adults?
Why don’t more adults still play children’s games? Certainly almost everyone has fond memories of at least some of those games. While many of them had an underlying lesson about interpersonal interaction and the fundamental rules of social conduct, most of them were still fun. Is it just because they’re “playground games”?
I know, there are groups of adults who play competitive hide and seek, kickball, and tag, but that’s a tiny minority (of kind of awesome people :)).
For me, eighth grade, I think, but I’m not going to swear on it. May have been early high school, or there may have been some one-off type icebreaker event in college that featured kickball. I feel like this is one of those corporate team-building or get-to-know-your-neighbor type of games.
No, actually, probably 15ish yrs ago when I was still in shape, me and my friends considered joining an adult league but we lost interest when we saw how hipster wannabe douch baggy the league was.
yeah about 8th grade was the last … since we had tennis courts in hs and i was put in the special needs pe class we played badminton all the time … blech … i wasnt bad with kickball tho …
I haven’t played for a long time, but awhile back I was thinking that a more extreme version for adults might be cool. Possibly using a size 2 soccer ball and fast pitches with a strike zone going from the ground to the knees.
We have had kickball tournaments during the company’s summer picnic though it has been a few years since we had a summer picnic. And I d didn’t play.
BUT I could have played ~5 years ago, and did WATCH a game or two
I’m surprised to see it played past elementary school. My middle and high schools didn’t have it at all.
We had a couple of strange rules at our school; any kicked ball that passes to the right of second base (i.e. on the first base side) is foul (because we played on the asphalt, and the right field area was also the right field area for one of the softball diamonds), and a runner headed home is out if the ball gets to home plate first (although I know some leagues play “if the ball hits the runner first”).
I last played kickball a few years ago in my late 30’s with other adults. There are also a few leagues of adult kickball done by various organizations in Chicago.
Kickball was in high school. While there were more formal class type bits (wrestling, boxing, and the whole semester of swimming) there was quite a bit of let’s just do something physical that’s easy for the gym teacher. We had a baseball diamond and the balls. Sometimes we played kickball.
The last time I played dodge ball was earlier this decade. I remember playing for morning physical training in the army on a day focused more on morale than working out. Being allowed to pelt officers with objects was the method to improve morale. Rank had its privileges. Priority target in dodge ball was not one of them.
It’s probably been ten years or so. We went to the park one Memorial day for the Giant Ball of Foil Games and BBQ. We swam in the creek, played kickball, ran races, played basketball, ping pong, spades and scrabble. We also ate a lot of brisket and drank a lot of beer. The winning team got to take home the giant ball of foil trophy. We stopped due to some divorces and bad feelings, but it would be fun to start with a new group of people. For awhile, we played softball at the park every Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day. It ceased to be fun because of one bossy old bastard who liked to pick fights. I can stand 100+ degree heat and pleasant people. I can put up with unpleasant people if the day is otherwise pleasant. IF you have a hot day and unpleasant people, I choose to stay home.
Kickball: with adults, in the early 2000s, when I was in my late 40s. A spinoff from our softball league at work.
Four Square: with kids, spring of last year, when the elementary school did its annual evening picnic thingy.
With adults: when I was in my early 20s. We had an active four-square group at my college.
Hide and seek: with my son, maybe 5-6 years ago. Once we figured out all the possible hiding places, it was game over.
Tag: not since childhood.
Dodgeball: ditto.
A number of reasons.
First, we just aren’t together often enough with other adults in settings where it’s possible to play those games; the continuity gets lost.
Second, our favored form of shared recreation shifts to talking, cooking, eating, drinking, and more talking.
Third, the body gets older and less flexible: there’s a lot of running and stopping and starting with dodging and quick changes of direction in many of those childhood games; even as someone whose body hasn’t aged nearly as fast as the calendar says it should have, those sorts of changes of motion are just no longer stuff that my body is happy with.
Fourth, with some games you get into esoteric reasons. For instance, hide and seek: when I weighed 60 pounds, I was small enough to hide in some interesting places. I’m 5’9" and >180 now, and good hiding places are hard to come by.