Remember playing marbles with tombowlers in the school yard? What about knucklebones, hopscotch or ludo? Oh, they were the days some may say, and you can revive them during a fascinating presentation A Century of Games by Langhorne Creek residents as part of South Australia’s History Festival on Sunday, May 6.
It’s a free, family fun day starting at the newly-established Langhorne Creek Hub featuring the fully restored original school house built in the 1850’s. It has been a superb effort by local volunteers, especially Heather Webster.
There will be 20 play zones around at this town’s beautiful historic spots, and some of the games include those played in school yards and homes across the country for more than a century from the 1850s.
Pictured on our front cover with a few of the games are (from left) Langhorne Creek Primary School students Ollie, seven, and Ella and Charli, both eight.
Each of the games presented will come with a brief history, including this incredibly old snakes & ladders game – what a classic – pictured above. It is believed to be close to 100 years old, and some of the words on the board haven’t been commonly used for many decades, like avarice (extreme greed for wealth or material gain), covetousness (jealously eager for the possession of something) and penitence (the action of feeling or showing sorrow and regret for having done wrong; repentance).
Each interactive zone on the day features other favourite games from the ‘pre-device’ era including board games such as Ludo, Chinese Checkers, Dominoes through to skill testers like Pick Up Sticks, Tiddley Winks, Quoits, Skittles and paper plane making (including a fly-off).
And that’s just indoors. The action continues outdoors with hopscotch, skipping, French cricket and the ever-popular marbles. Adding to the experience is a display of vintage toys and games including a rare Escalado horse racing game (c.1930’s) and an original Hornby miniature train set.
A Century of Games is a unique opportunity for children, parents and grandparents to have fun, learn from one another and experience some real ‘face time’. No, the Super Mario Bros game won’t be there.
Details: A Century of Games, Sunday, May 6, 10am-5pm at The Langhorne Creek Hub, 79 Bridge Rd, Langhorne Creek.