What was your favorite childhood game? Mom wanted us out of the house and exhausted by dark.

My sister and I would hit a tennis ball back and forth over the house to one another.

It was fun trying to anticipate where the ball would come from and hit it back. And we broke no windows.

It kept us entertained – and finally worn out – for hours.

How times have changed. Now the only body parts that get exercise are kids’ fingers. It’s a wonder their little fannies don’t go to sleep.

Do you dig this?

Mancala was played by making small holes in the dirt and finding small stones.

The earliest stone Mancala game board dates back to 600 AD.

In Africa and other countries, kids in bygone days played jacks with rocks, ran races, and used long vines as a jump rope.

In India in 600 AD, chess players had 4 divisions of the military – infantry, cavalry, elephantry and chariots – on their chess boards.

Senet, an ancient Egyptian board game, was found in a painting from 2,686 BC. Although the original rules are lost, a modern version is still being played today.

Dice were made from bone, ivory, wood or stone. The first dice were sheep knuckle bones. www.Dice-play.com has a list of ancient dice games.

The urge to cheat is not new. Archaeologists in Pompeii found dice with a bit of lead on one side to make them roll a certain way.

In ancient Mesopotamia, the Royal Game of UR was popular but has been found in ancient middle eastern archeological sites, too. This game evolved into an early version of backgammon.

Violent stickball

Stickball games in the ancient Celts included “hurling” with balls made from animal hair and a stick. Rules from the 13 century forbid hurling due to excessive violence.

Football, a newfangled sport, sent hurling to the sidelines.

What Europeans call football, we call soccer. Scotland, France, and England banned football in the Middle Ages. It had become a mass mob game between neighboring towns and villages. Football teams of 300-400 men damaged property and caused serious injury to players.

This ancient game included trying to get an inflated pig’s bladder over markers at each end of town. With no rules, any means to move this pig’s bladder was legal if it didn’t lead to manslaughter or murder.

King Edward II of England banned it in 1314 by saying, “There is great noise in the city caused by hustling over large balls from which many evils may arise which God forbids.”

Football was seen as a distraction from archery, a mandatory occupation.

The British Highway Act of 1835 banned playing football on public highways and gave a maximum 40 shilling penalty to anyone who “shall play at Football or any other Game on any Part of the said Highways, to the Annoyance of any Passenger or Passengers.”

Early rockers

Ancient ball games with sticks and balls made of rocks, appeared in the Meso-American cultures 3,000 years ago.

Hopscotch, Red Rover, tag, hide and seek, king of the hill and chase are just a few games that kept kids busy in the old days.

These games taught social and life skills and gave them lots of exercise. Shut down the Wi-Fi, and get out those old board games, research some old games, or just get outside and play with the kids.

To play tennis with the house as the net, it is easier with a one-story house. I can vouch for that.

Got a question or Good Ol’ Days suggestion? Write to Liesha at liesha.huffstetler@gmail.com