When I was growing up in Iceland in the middle of the 1970s, us kids were always outside doing something. We were generation X of course and that is what you did back then. Also at that time in Iceland, there were no cartoons on TV on weekend mornings like in the US and Canada. Basically there was nothing for kids to watch on TV except for Sunday afternoon, when the “Little House on the Prairie” came on and then followed by Government TV children’s hour. Iceland was a Soviet like state in those days. The only entertainment available for kids, apart paying outside, was the public library, which was nearby, thank god. All the kids went there and we learnt to read comic books, because you had to.
Well, the games of my childhood were diverse and of all sorts too. The thing about most of the games, is that they were structured for a group of kids playing the game at the same time, and everyone could participate. This was crucial because everyone was included in the games, and the kids playing in my groups were from 5 to 10 years old. Many siblings took part in these big groups, including me and my big sister. I remember when I was around 6 years old, the group would be from 12-18 kids playing together in the Icelandic summer, where the sun does not set. We would all be outside playing all day until 11 PM at night, and this was considered normal back then. Some of the games were known, like One-Krona, Soccer, Over, Tag and then many other games were made up on the spot. In addition to that we set things on fire, climbed up on buildings, jumped off off buildings or played with out Matchbox cars all over the place. In winter we all went out sledding at every opportunity and stayed out in the dark, until we were called in for dinner at 7 PM. I had a good childhood where this is concerned. Kids need to run outside and play. I thank god we did not have any computers, internet and smartphones.
