In the 1960s, Iona and Peter Opie observed that although many books had
been written about how children should play, none had been written about
how they actually played. To fill the gap they carried out an exhaustive
survey, through the decade, of the games that children 'in fact play'
when aged roughly between six and twelve years of age, and when outdoors
-- and usually when out of sight.
The result was their classic work Children's Games in Street and
Playground. It records games played in streets, parks, playgrounds and
wastelands by more than 10,000 children across the UK from the Shetland
Isles to the Channel Islands, although the majority of the information
comes from children living in big cities such as London, Liverpool,
Bristol and Glasgow.
In all, around 125 games are described in detail, including the rhymes
and sayings children repeat while playing them, together with the
different names they are called. Brief historical notes are also
included where relevant.
There are important lessons to be learned from this book about giving
children the time and physical space to be themselves with other
children.
Previously published as Children's Games in Street and Playground,
Volume 1 and Volume 2.