10 Scottish childhood games you will remember if you grew up here

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Back before iPads and streaming services, kids in Scotland had to find more creative ways to pass the time when they were bored.

Anyone who grew up in or went to school in the country will no doubt remember countless fun games they played, from tig to hopscotch. Over the winter, when the weather turned particularly cold and rainy, we had to have a bit more imagination.

If you’re looking for a hit of nostalgia, we have put together a list of 10 games that were popular amongst children here in years gone by.

Here are 10 childhood games that you will likely remember if you grew up in Scotland.

1. Bulldogs

Also known as British Bulldog, this often-violent playground game is notorious for being banned in schools across the country. That didn’t stop many from playing it anyway though.

The game involves one or two players being selected as ‘bulldogs’, while the rest line up and begin running to a designated point past the bulldog. The goal of the bulldog was to catch the other kids as they cross the playing area, converting them to their team, while the others continued to run back and forth until no one remained.

2. Water fights

(Image: Carol Yepes / Getty Images)

One of the most fun activities to play on those warm summer days was a good old fashioned water fight. There were no rules per se but most would come armed with either water balloons or small water pistols and try to drench everyone into submission.

There was always that one kid with a Super Soaker that quickly brought the game to an end, as within minutes they would soak all other players from head to toe.

3. Conkers

This traditional playground game goes all the way back to the 1800s, and involves two players armed with a conker threaded onto a piece of string. Given that conkers begin to fall from trees in September and October, it was primarily played over the autumn.

The rules of the game were to take turns striking each other’s conker until one broke. It was easy to cheat at the game by baking your conker, steeping it in vinegar, or painting with nail varnish.

4. Floor is lava

A classic rainy-day game, this one is pretty self explanatory: the floor is lava and so you had to do anything you could to avoid touching it. This inevitably meant making a total mess as you threw cushions, blankets, and books onto the floor to use as stepping stones.

If you can believe it, the idea was adapted into a big-budget Netflix game show, which sees participants navigate an obstacle course in a room filled with over 300,000 litres of bright red goop that simulates hot lava.

5. Rounders

(Image: Peter Cade / Getty Images)

Another classic summertime game, most people in Scotland will likely have fond—or not so fond for those with poor hand-eye coordination—memories of playing rounders in their local park.

The object of the game is to hit a ball with a bat. If you manage to strike the ball, then you need to run around four bases to score a run, with the team who has the most runs at the end being declared the winner.

6. What’s the time Mr Wolf?

This simple game involves one player being chosen as ‘the wolf’, while the others stand and wait at the other end of the playing area. The wolf then says a time, for example four o’clock, at which point the others would take four steps closer to them.

This then repeats until the wolf declares “It’s dinnertime”, at which point they attempt to catch any of the others. The first person to be caught then becomes the wolf and the game starts over.

7. Chap door run/chappy/ding dong dash

More of a prank than a game, this involves one or more children choosing a random doorbell to ring and then running away or hiding before the victim comes to the door.

More thrilling than any other activity on this list, you were always a little terrified you would be chased down the street by an angry neighbour.

8. Marbles

(Image: Alicia Llop / Getty Images)

Another classic childhood favourite, marbles have been enjoyed all around the world for many years and Scotland is no exception. Like playing cards, there were numerous games that could be enjoyed with the small spherical balls.

One of the most popular involved shooting 11 marbles into a circle and knocking the other player’s marbles out of the ring until only your ones remained.

9. Kerby

A simple but fun game, Kerby only required three things that most people had access to: a couple of players, a ball, and a pavement. Each player then stood on opposite sides of the kerb and faced each other.

The aim of the game was to throw the ball against the opposite kerb, with double points being awarded if it was caught on the rebound.

10. Heads down thumbs up

A classic primary school game, heads down thumbs up will forever be ingrained into the minds of people across Scotland. It was also a blessing for teachers, as it gave them a bit of a break.

The game saw two people chosen to stand up, while everyone else put their heads down on their desks with their eyes closed and thumbs sticking up. The two then had to creep around and gently touch one person each on the thumb.

Everyone was then told to open their eyes and the children who were touched stood up and tried to guess who touched their thumbs.

Did we miss any Scottish childhood games? Let us know in the comments!

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