Yard games of Soviet childhood. Yard games for children of the USSR

Before the age of home game consoles and computers, children and teenagers all over the world spent tons of change on slot machines. The popularity of the gaming halls was so great that sometimes you had to stand in a long queue to play! Many of these games have become real symbols of the 80s era, and today we will get acquainted with 10 of the most famous!

Donkey Kong (1981)

Nintendo, Japan

This game is famous for the first appearance of two of Nintendo's favorite characters - the gorilla Dunky Kong and the mustachioed plumber Mario, who is still the official symbol of the company.

However, the whole image of the hero had not yet developed, and in the game he is simply called the Jumpman, and his profession is not a plumber, but a carpenter. The fact is that, according to the idea, the heroes of the game were supposed to be the sailor Popeye, his girlfriend Olive and the strongman Bluto. Nintendo's disagreements with the King Features Syndicate gave birth to two wonderful characters at once, each of which will subsequently receive its own series of games!

The playing field is a kind of abandoned construction site with steel beams, stairs and barrels. All this is pretty much destroyed by Danky Kong, so some of the stairs are broken and lead nowhere, and the beams are bent. The hero needs to get to the top to save the princess, while the insidious Kong will throw barrels at him.

In the history of video games, Donkey Kong is known as one of the very first platform games. Before him, only Space Panic and Apple Panic were in this genre.

Galaxian (1979)

Namco, Japan

The space shooter "Galaxian" is built on the same principle as Midway's earlier Space Invaders game and was conceived as an improved competitor.

Before us appears the same armada of alien ships (space flies) that fire at our ship (by the way, its name is Galaxip). But, unlike Space Invaders, this armada is in constant motion, which creates an additional difficulty in hitting.

Also, from time to time, enemy ships begin to ram, attacking our Galaxip and firing at it furiously. As soon as an enemy ship leaves the screen, a new one takes its place.

Although Galaxian was not the first color game, its graphics had many innovations - a moving background with starry sky, animated sprites, colored fonts and, of course, very "live" explosions! In addition, it had a "double" musical accompaniment - a background melody and voice effects.

Frogger (1981)

Konami, Japan

The player controls a frog, which must pass the screen from bottom to top and get into one of his houses.

To do this, she needs to overcome the road with vehicles moving in both directions, among which there are trucks, buses, cars, bulldozers, motorcycles, bicycles and other vehicles - each with its own length and speed.

Above is a river, with logs floating along it, alligators and turtles. The game goes against the clock, and the frog needs to move faster and faster in order to cross the field before the time runs out.

To complete a stage, you need to occupy all five cells in turn with frogs, after which a new stage automatically begins with denser and faster traffic, with a faster river and with more enemies.

Asteroids (1979)

The goal of the game is to destroy asteroids and flying saucers while avoiding their debris. The player controls the triangular spaceship, which can rotate left and right, but only shoot forward. When changing course, the ship changes direction, which is maintained until the player changes course again. After leaving the screen, the ship appears from the opposite side. Like any space ship, it has a certain inertia - it is difficult for it to quickly accelerate and immediately stop.

The graphics are built only from primitives - points, lines and polygons, white on a black background. It is rather poor, but at the same time, the mathematics of the movement of figures, the ship and flying saucers is calculated flawlessly, which turns the flaws in graphics into a special concept - playing Asteroids is not at all boring! It is worth paying tribute to the high-quality voice acting - the sound of the engine is especially great when the ship is picking up speed! The shot down ship scatters on the lines of which it consists.

In addition, in the spirit of the series " Star Trek”, the player can move the ship into hyperspace to disappear and reappear at a random location on the screen, but at the same time there is a risk of hitting an asteroid and dying.

The game had several bugs - it slows down when the player gains 50-100 lives, and after gaining 250 lives, you can completely "lose" the game.

Q*bert (1982)

Gottlieb, USA

Q * Bert - a nosy bun with legs that lives in parallel space. His world is made up of cubes. The game is one of the first "isometric" platformers, where pseudo-3D space was created using 2D graphics. The goal of the game is to change the color of each cube by jumping on top of it. In this case, you need to dodge obstacles and enemies: Coily snake, purple pig, gremlin and green monsters.

At first glance, the game seems simple, but with each new level, obstacles are added to it - for example, cubes that the character has already visited change color when touched again, or enemies change it. Whenever Q*bert is caught by an enemy, he "swears" - over his head, as in comics, a cloud of direct speech appears: "@! # [email protected]!».

In addition to isometric graphics, the use of a speech synthesizer has also become an innovation. However, due to the imperfection of the Vortax chip, it was still impossible to make out the words, and the developers decided to give the characters not a human, but an “alien” language, which gave the game even more flavor.

The case of the Q * bert slot machine contained a solenoid that, when a character fell from a pyramid, emitted a dull thud, simulating the sound of a fall, which gave realism to the gameplay.

The crisis of the gaming industry in 1983 ended the popularity of Q*bert, and the game went out of fashion. Further attempts to release new versions did not lead to success. Q * Bert received a second life on television, as a character on a popular children's TV show.

Defender (1980)

Williams Electronics USA

The game takes place on a fictional planet where the player must fend off waves of alien invasion while protecting peaceful cities. Flying over the changing landscape, the player's ship must dodge a collision with attacking aliens, destroying enemy forces.

Although Defender was not the first horizontal scroller, it was the first horizontal scrolling shooter.

The style of the game inspired other developers and led to a large number imitations and sequels (Defender II came out the same year!).

The game was a great commercial success: more than 55,000 machines were sold, which made the Defender machine the absolute leader in the company's sales.

Pacman (1980)

Namco, Japan

The character of this game is a real icon of popular culture of the 80s! The popularity of the Pacman game has not waned since its inception to the present day! The fact is that when Pacman was released, the world of video games was still very poor. The most popular slot machines were space shooters like Space Invaders or Asteroids. Pac-Man managed to create a completely new genre of maze chase, which was suitable not only for boys, but also for girls who were indifferent to shooting games.

The player controls Pac-Man (commonly referred to as a "kolobok" in Russia) through a maze full of edible dots (pac-dots or just dots). When all the dots are eaten, he goes to the next level. Four enemies (according to the plot they are ghosts): Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde, each have their own "character" and a special demeanor. If the enemy catches Pac-Man, the hero loses a life.

Eaten "energizer" (large granule) briefly changes roles - the ghosts turn blue and try to sneak away from Pac-Man. However, with each new stage, the duration of the energizer is reduced until it becomes completely useless.

As a bonus, fruits are given at each level - for the accumulated points, the player, over time, receives an extra life. Pacman was one of the first games to feature cut-scenes—small "cartoons" after reaching a certain milestone.

Pacman's almost perfectly thought-out algorithm has a serious flaw called the "Blind Sector". It was originally planned that there would be 255 levels, after which the hero would again get to the first level, where the ghosts would continue to behave like on high levels. However, due to an overflow error, the 256th level was half random characters and after eating all the dots, the character was left in an empty labyrinth one on one with ghosts. There is no way out of the level.

Turbo (1981)

Sega, Japan

Sega car simulator, "great-grandfather" of Need For Speed. The player drives a car stylized as racing car Formula 1. The circuit passes through urban and rural landscapes, where the weather and time of day change from time to time.

The realism of the game is added by a tunnel, puddles on the pavement, sometimes even snow. In addition to simple turns, the track may have slopes downhill or uphill.

Before the time runs out, the player must overtake at least 30 cars. Some of them move quite predictably, others maneuver randomly, provoking a collision.

Turbo game laid the foundation for the design of all subsequent car simulators, and also introduced a new perspective - "from a third person". Turbo slot machines were produced in different modifications. Some of them had a steering wheel, gas pedal, shift knob and a stylish analog speedometer instead of a traditional joystick!

But there was an even cooler performance, in which the machine was a full-fledged cabin with a chair, steering wheel, pedals that created the full effect of presence!

Tron (1982)

Bally Midway, USA

The plot of this game is based on the sci-fi film of the same name by Walt Disney Studios, released in the same year.

At the beginning of each level, the player is given a choice of four games, which can be played in any order, but it is impossible to advance to the next level without winning all four.

In the first game, the Input/Output tower is about destroying as many "disk bugs" as possible and getting to the flashing circle in the center. In the second - MCP Cone (Program Control Master Cone) you need to destroy a multi-colored cylinder descending on the player (obviously representing a FAT table) in order to penetrate into the cone through holes.

The third game Tank Battle (tank battle) is not directly related to the film and reminds everyone of the well-known "tanks" (aka Battle City). It is necessary to destroy all enemy tanks while moving through the labyrinth, however, any hit in our tank leads to the death of the character. The fourth game is similar to the "snake", however, according to the plot, it is not a snake, but a light cycle (another reference to the film). It is necessary to avoid collisions with walls and traces of light left by the enemy, forcing the enemy to crash himself.

12 levels of the game are named after the programming languages ​​popular at that time: RPG, COBOL, BASIC, FORTRAN, SNOBOL, PL1, PASCAL, ALGOL, ASSEMBLY, OS, JCL, USER.

Just like the movie, the game is filled with glowing objects. Luminous stripes were also applied to the case of Tron slot machines, and in the twilight of the gaming hall they glowed, adding atmosphere to the game!

P.S. The income from the sale of the game exceeded the income from the sale of the movie!

Ms. Pac Man (1981)

Bally Midway, USA

"Female" version of Pacman from the American company Bally Midway. Apart from appearance the character, to which a bow was added and lips and eyelashes were painted, the plan of the labyrinth, its color and soundtrack changed.

The essence of the game remains the same - the player earns points by eating dots (in the original description of pellets - "pellets") and dodging ghosts. But the ghosts here move differently than in Pacman - performing pseudo-random actions, they do not give you the opportunity to memorize their behavior, which makes the gameplay more unpredictable. By the way, the orange ghost also became a girl - her name is Sue, not Clyde.

In the animated cutscenes, we see Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man's romantic relationship unfold. Excuse me, they have the same surnames, aren't they brother and sister? In the final screensaver, the stork brings them a child, which, obviously, symbolized the birth new game Jr. Pac-Man released by Midway two years later!

Based on sales results, Ms. Pac-Man is recognized as the best-selling American slot machine - its sales exceeded 115,000, which forced Namco (the developer of the original Pacman) to recognize Ms. Pac-Man part of the line!

Video version

In 1970, a patent was issued for a computer manipulator, without which not one player can do now. It's about a computer mouse. The man who received the patent was named Douglas Engelbart. 1975 was the year of public interest in computer games. William Crowther creates a game that is a prototype of the adventure genre and calls it Colossal Cave Adventure. This game is distributed instantly through the ArpaNET network. Since 1977, various developers have released more and more new computer games, which will subsequently greatly accelerate the development of personal computers. The Video Computer System (VCS) - a console with cartridges containing a ROM chip with a recorded program. Later renamed Atari 2600. Released in 1977. Specifications: 8-bit 6507 processor, 128 bytes (0.125 KB) random access memory and no more than 4 KB of ROM in each cartridge.

Video games in the 80s of the twentieth century

The second decade of the existence of the gaming industry - the 1980s - was a period of ups and downs of video games. It began at the height of the arcade boom, when game industry giants like Atari still dominated the market. The oversaturation of the market with low-quality games and the growing popularity of personal computers contributed to the beginning of the North American video game crisis, which almost destroyed the entire industry. Had it not been for Nintendo's resurgent interest in the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), consoles would not have recovered from such a blow for many years to come. At the end of the decade, the struggle for market leadership between developers began

Sega and Nintendo. Worth mentioning is the release of Nintendo's Game Boy, the best-selling handheld game console of the next two decades.

Video game crisis of 1983

At the end of 1983, the gaming industry experienced an even more serious recession than during the crisis of '77 (see previous article). A number of companies that made home computers and consoles from late 1983 to early 1984 filed for bankruptcy. These factors marked the end of what is considered the second generation of game consoles. The causes of the crisis could also include the release of games with low-quality design, the most famous of which are E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Pac-Man for the Atari 2600.

Pac-Man for Atari 2600.

According to some reports, the sale of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial were so low that Atari was forced to send thousands of unsold cartridges to a landfill in New Mexico. But main reason The North American crisis of 1983 is considered to be the rapid development of gaming personal computers.

Gaming computers

In 1984, computers began to dominate over the consoles, which had not yet recovered from the crisis. PCs provided the same gaming experience, there was no need to insert cartridges every time - games remained on the computer even after it was turned off. Computers became more and more popular. Following the success of the Apple II and Commodore PET in 1977, cheaper competitors began to appear. In the early 1980s, Commodore VIC-20 and 64 computers, Sinclair ZX80, ZX81 and ZX Spectrum, NEC PC-8000, PC-6001, PC-88 and PC-98, Sharp X1 and X68000, 8-bit PCs were released. from Atari, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC and MSX architecture computers. Competition stimulated the home PC markets through advertising campaigns aimed at attracting buyers.

The Commodore 64, whose pricing was one of the main reasons for the contraction of the console market, was released in August 1982. It was actively sold - this was the reason for its initial popularity. The Commodore 64 had a built-in BASIC programming language and advanced, for those times, graphic and sound capabilities. It had the same game controller connectors as the Atari 2600, allowing gamers to use their old joysticks. Without exaggeration, this legendary device became the most popular computer of those times. Commodore 64 is the best-selling (~20 million units sold) model of a personal computer to this day.

Almost simultaneously with the release of the Commodore 64, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum was released in the UK, which quickly became popular in many countries of Western (and later Eastern) Europe. With the advent of the IBM PC/AT model in 1984, the IBM PC-compatible computer became a technically competitive gaming platform. Primitive 4-color CGA-graphics of previous IBM models lost to such competitors as C64 and Apple II. The new 64-color EGA monitor has improved the graphics. However, the sound capabilities were still limited by the low-quality speaker built into the PC, which was clearly inferior to the sound generators of many computers. It is worth noting that the relatively high price of IBM PC-compatible computers did not increase their popularity. In the same year, the first Macintosh computer from Apple was released. In it, instead of the standard command line interface at that time, a graphical interface was used.

First Macintosh

The arrival of the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga in 1985 marked the beginning of new era 16-bit devices.

Atari ST & Commodore Amiga

For many users, they were too expensive, so IBM offered users a relatively powerful and cheaper line of computers - IBM PS / 2.

IBM PS/2. Model 55SX.

They used new standard monitors and video adapters - VGA, which has a 256-color mode. This was a big leap forward for most 8-bit home computers. Thus, the popularity of ST and Amiga quickly faded away.

Dedicated sound cards solved the problem of the low audio capabilities of IBM PC-compatible computers in the late 80s. AdLib has approved the de facto sound card standard for IBM PC computers.

AdLib Music Synthesizer

But already in 1989 they were replaced by the Sound Blaster family of cards from Creative Labs, which became the new leader in the audio card market.

The second model of the Sound Blaster family - Sound Blaster 1.5, released in 1989

Even in the early 90s, many games still supported these standards. Also, it is worth mentioning that it was in the 80s that the first shareware games appeared, but they became really popular only in the 90s.

Similar information.

In the 21st century, children quietly disappeared from the courtyards of big cities - now they play computer games or well-mannered spending time in specially organized children's clubs. Together with the children, the culture of yard games and yard socialization (with all its features) disappeared. And if the kids can still be found on the playgrounds under the supervision of relatives, then schoolchildren are almost completely invisible. We look around at the deserted spring yards and remember the disappeared games that in many ways made us the adults we have become.

"Rubbers"

How to play.

The main attribute of this game for girls is an elastic band. The ideal number of players is 3-4 people. Each participant performs jumping figures and combinations at different heights: from the level of the ankles (the "first" ones jump) to the level of the neck (the "sixth" ones jump). Jumping through an elastic band stretched at the level of the thigh had the mysterious name "pozhepe". As soon as the jumper makes a mistake, another participant takes her place, and the girl who made a mistake puts on an elastic band. If there are four players, the pairs change places when both players from the same pair alternately make mistakes.

What develops: vestibular apparatus, coordination, attentiveness. It teaches you how to train, win, lose with dignity, jump above everyone else and be friends with girls, even if at the moment they are rivals.

"Classics"

How to play.

Crayons, an asphalt pad and a pebble (or puck) are required. You draw small cells with numbers in a certain sequence, and you can even jump alone. The main thing is to hit the cage with a stone, jump to it on one or two legs and return back the same way. The luckiest player is the one who manages to go all the way from one to ten. The number of players in the "classics" can be any.

What develops: dexterity, accuracy, ability to concentrate and knowledge of numbers, if the players are just kids.

"Boyars"

How to play.

The participants of this old Russian-folk game are divided into two equal teams and stand opposite each other in ranks, holding hands, at a distance of 10–15 m. , and we came to you ... "The dialogue ends with the words:" Boyars, open the gates, give us the bride forever. The one who is chosen as the bride must then scatter and break through the enemy's chain. If the attempt is successful, the player returns to his team, if not, he remains on the other. The next round is started by the losing team. The goal of the game is to gather as many members as possible in a team.

What develops: the ability to be in a team and win in a one-on-one situation.

How to play.

The task of the driver is to stand with his back to the participants at the finish line (the greater the distance between the driver and the participants, the better) and say loudly: “You go quieter, you will go further - stop.” While the driver is talking (and he can do it at any pace), the participants try to run as far as possible towards the finish line. As soon as the driver falls silent, you need to freeze in place. Anyone who did not have time to stop or made a random move is out of the game. The winner is the one who gets to the finish line first and touches the driver.

What develops: coordination, the ability to run fast and respond to changing circumstances.

"Sorcerers"

How to play.

Participants run away from the driver (this game is a kind of tag). The driver catches up with the player and touches him - he taunts. The salted one spreads his hands, and any other participant can run up, touch him and “rescue him”. The task of the driver is not to stray far from the greasy and not to let anyone take a step towards him. The summer version of sorcerers is to run around with “sprinklers” and pour water on each other from leaky bottles. Usually, five minutes after the start, everyone is wet, but very cheerful.

What develops: the ability to run fast, think fast and enjoy life with might and main.

"The sea is worried"

How to play.

The host turns away from the players and says a rhyme:
The sea is worried
The sea is worried two,
The sea is rough three
Marine figure freeze in place!
As he speaks, the participants move chaotically in any order, imitating wave movements with their hands. As soon as the driver falls silent, you need to freeze in some figure. The driver approaches one of the players and touches him. The player depicts his figure in motion, and the driver guesses what it is. The player whose figure could not be guessed becomes the leader himself.

What develops: imagination, spontaneity and artistry.

"Cossack robbers"

How to play.

Players are divided into two teams - "Cossacks" and "robbers". They agree on what territory they play. It can be a yard, an entrance, a street, several yards. "Robbers" guess a secret word. "Cossacks" step aside so as not to see the "robbers". The "robbers" run away, marking the direction of their movement with arrows on the asphalt (walls of houses, curbs, trees, etc.). They begin to run in a group, and then they scatter in all directions, trying to confuse the "Cossacks" with arrows. The task of the "Cossacks" is to find the "robbers" by the arrows. The “Cossack” brings each “robber” to the “prison” and guards him, trying to find out the secret word, for example, by using nettle torture. "Cossacks" win as soon as they learn the secret word or find all the "robbers".

What develops: the basic skills of scouts, the ability to navigate the terrain and not give up "their own".

"12 sticks"

How to play.

The game is reminiscent of the classic hide and seek. 12 small sticks are placed on the “lever” (for example, on a plank and a stone placed under it) so that, stepping on the lever, you can scatter the sticks. The task of the driver is to collect the sticks, put them on the lever, say a rhyme with his eyes closed and go in search of the hidden players. As soon as the driver discovers the player, he runs to the "lever" and breaks the sticks, naming the name of the found. The player becomes the leader. If the found one manages to get ahead of the driver and run to the sticks first, the driver does not change.

What develops: the ability to competently hide and quickly run when necessary.

"Bouncers"

How to play.

"Bouncers" - two players - stand on both sides of the site. The rest of the players are in the center. The task of the "bouncers" is to throw the ball to each other and hit any of the "central" players. The task of the players is to dodge the flying ball. The one who is hit is out of the game. Other participants can "save" the eliminated player by catching the ball in the air (the main condition is not from the ground, otherwise you will also fly out). When there is one member left in the team of "central" players, he must dodge the ball as many times as he is old. If he manages to do this, all the retired return to their original places.

What develops: the ability to dodge fast-flying objects, think about your neighbor and endure pain.

"I know 5 names"

How to play.

The first player takes the ball in his hands, says: “I know one girl’s name”, hits the ball with one hand on the ground and calls the name. Then he continues with different variations: “I know one name of the boy”, “I know one color”, “I know one animal”, “I know one city”. When all combinations are used, the player says the same counting rhymes, only at the expense of two: “I know two names of the girl” - and then in a circle. The game continues until ten. If, while hitting the ball, the player did not have time to name or hit the ball, the turn passes to another participant. When the ball, having passed through all the participants, returns to the first player, he continues to play from the phrase on which he made a mistake. The winner is the one who first gets to ten in this speech.

What develops: multitasking, erudition, the ability to correct your mistakes and move on.

"Edible-Inedible"

How to play.

All players sit or stand in a row. The driver throws the ball to one of the participants and at the same time calls some object. If the item is "edible", the player catches the ball. If not, it rejects. The task of the driver is to confuse the player, for example, in the chain “apple-melon-carrot-potato” unexpectedly say: “iron”. If the player makes a mistake and “eats” the “inedible”, then he becomes the leader himself. The faster the driver throws the ball and names the objects, the more exciting and interesting it is to play.

What develops: sense of humor, the ability to listen carefully and respond quickly.

"Knives"

How to play. Players mark a circle on the ground. Then, in turn, they try to get with a knife into the outlined territory of the enemy and thus win back as much land as possible from him. The knife can be thrown, including from the shoulder, with a coup, from the nose and even from the head. There are many versions of the game of "knives" under different names: "land", "cities", "benches", "grandparents", "tanchiki", "boats", "football", "sea battle". The knife can be stuck into the ground, sand and even a wooden bench.

What develops: ability to handle edged weapons, attentiveness and caution.

"Ring-Ring"

How to play. Players sit in a row and fold their palms like a boat. The driver holds a small object in his fist or folded palms, such as a coin, a button, a ring. He goes around each player in turn, putting his “boat” into his “boat” and saying a counting rhyme: “I wear, I wear a ring and I will give it to someone.” The task of the driver is to quietly put the “ring” into one of the players and say “Ring-ring, go out on the porch!” After that, the player who got the item jumps up and tries to run away. The task of the remaining participants is to detain the evader.

What develops: the ability to follow the manipulations of others, to act quickly and decisively.

"Will you go to the ball?"

How to play. The leader pronounces a rhyme:

Yes and no don't say
don't call black and white
Are you going to the ball?
Its purpose is to confuse the player. After the rhyme, the driver asks the player a variety of clarifying questions: what will he ride, what will he ride, what color will the dress or trousers be, what is the name of the groom, etc. The player's task is to answer the questions without using the words "yes", "no", "black", "white". It is most interesting to mix simple and difficult questions change the pace of speech and intonation.

What develops: the ability to think outside the box, monitor one's own speech, hold attention and quickly find a way out of the current situation.

"I was born a gardener"

How to play.

Each player chooses a name for himself - the name of the flower and informs his "gardener"-driver and other players. The driver pronounces a counting rhyme: “I was born a gardener, I was seriously angry, I was tired of all the flowers, except ...” And he calls the “name” (name of the flower) of one of the players. There is a dialogue between the driver and the player. The player says the name of one flower from those that are in the team. The participant whose name was spoken must respond. The dialogue continues. The one who made a mistake: for example, did not respond to his name, mixed up the name of the flowers, - gives a phantom (any of his things). At the end of the game, forfeits are played out. The “gardener” turns away, they take out the thing and ask the driver: “What should this player do?” The "gardener" assigns a task (jump on one leg, squat, sing, recite a poem, etc.) - the player "works out" the phantom and takes his thing.

What develops: memory, attention, courage and willingness to answer for their actions. Of course, computer games cannot replace outdoor children's games with fresh air. Although they can also be divided into useful and not very useful. For example, playing minecraft online will benefit a child much more than some pointless shooting games.

"Kiss Meow"

How to play.

The driver and one of the players stand in front of the rest of the participants: the driver - with his face, the player - with his back. The driver points to one of the participants and asks: “Kiss?” If the player with his back answers “throw”, the driver continues to choose. As soon as the player says "meow", the driver asks him: "What color?" The player chooses a color and turns to face the rest of the participants. Depending on the chosen color, the player and the participant from the team complete the task. The player has no right to refuse the task. White is the scariest color. Two should retire in the entrance. What they do there - history is always silent. Green - three questions, to which the player can only answer "yes". Usually tricky questions like: “Do you love him?” Red - a kiss on the lips. Pink - the same, but on the cheek. Yellow - three questions in private. When choosing an orange color, you need to walk under the arm, preferably past adults. Blue - kiss the hand. Violet - to commit a bad deed. For example, stepping on your foot, pulling your hair, or taking away jewelry.

What develops: the ability to communicate with the opposite sex, manage their impulses and find socially acceptable forms for their desires.

The main occupation of children in all ages has been and remains the game. It is she who is one of the eternal things in the world, or maybe this is a special world where adults have no access ...

Times change and games change with them.

Adults often say that today's children are no longer the same. So after all, modern adults were once the “wrong” children for their parents.

Nothing stands still: society changes, its interests change, and so do the games. Let's try to draw a parallel between the games of children in the 70s and 80s and those that are popular now.

Games of the 70s and 80s.

Most children instead cell phone(which was then from the world of fantasy) was content with such a communication device in which two matchboxes were connected by a silk thread. Such a phone provided communication up to 10 meters. By the way, at such a distance you can hear without a phone, but it’s more interesting!

Many children of different ages gathered in the yard, united by the same yard games.

The girls constantly jumped over the rubber band, knitted something, embroidered and kept their painted notebooks with interesting rhymes, questionnaires for girlfriends and fortunetellers. All of them without exception were dressed in school uniforms of a terrible Brown and white aprons. Their cuffs and collars were altered almost daily, as they quickly got dirty on some kind of needlework. And, of course, the whole courtyard of that time was painted by the classics! Without them, nowhere.

The boys also had their games. Their characteristic features were the use of something forbidden, the disapproval of adults and the danger to health. And it's not drugs and sex, as many people think. Kid's amusements are games of "war", slingshots, homemade guns, bungees and, of course, a penknife! The knife was a symbol of power and was used for games outside the school walls. The most famous knife game was called "Earth". Two players draw a large circle on the ground, divided in half. It was necessary to throw a knife at a piece of enemy land, and by its position it was determined which piece of firmament would go to the occupier. They played until one of the players had no place left on the ground where they could put their foot.

Both boys and girls of the 70s and 80s were united by such outdoor games as "Cossacks-robbers", where you had to run fast, hide well and show a lot of ingenuity in placing marks, "Stick-knockers for yourself", "Lapta", "Fisherman and fish", "Fifteen". Also very popular were ball games such as "Square", "Ten" and "Dodgeball".

Role-playing games were based on the most "fashionable" films at that time, "The Elusive Avengers", "Chingachgook" or "The Three Musketeers". All of these games were exciting, with a captivity scenario and very moving.

Of all the games that bravely looked into the face of time, the most coveted for children was the electronic game with the Wolf, who caught eggs in a basket, called "Well, you wait!". Without a doubt, children who scored more than 1000 points could defend alone Brest fortress, because they had no nerves and reactions.

What are the children of our time playing?

The progress of the 21st century has eliminated the need for children to make houses for dolls or cars from natural materials. Everything is already ready. Our time offers a wide variety of computer games that are increasingly capturing the brain of modern children. And those, in turn, do not particularly resist this effect. Thus, the majority of modern children spend all their free time near the computer. Many "exploits" of the youth of our time are virtual. Now you can’t see children with slingshots and crossbows, because all children’s aggression remains on the Internet. Now children do not write on their desks: why, because there are numerous social networks and forums.

As you can see, computer games and social networks, in which the current generation lives its childhood, are not so harmful. There are many educational and useful games, for example, games designed to teach children languages, train logical thinking.