KITE FLYING

Before video games, there was the visual luxury of watching your own kite fly at the park with your friends and/or family. We would walk up to the field at the park, hoping for light and medium winds. There are so many different varieties of kites.

We would usually have a buddy help us fly the kite since it really is a group effort. One person would hold the ball of string and the other would let the kite fly. It was always really fun to try to catch your kite before it hit the ground.

ROUNDABOUT

All I know is that there was always that one crazy kid running around this thing, pulling it in circles at the fastest speed possible. This was one that I got hurt on a lot! I’d come limping up to Mom in the front yard and she’d go get the Mercurochrome and first aid. Ouch, it did sting, but it was worth the fun we had!

Whoever remained on the roundabout ride the longest without getting sick was the true warrior of the group (and probably just as crazy as the kid pulling the ride around).

MAZE

Sometimes the playground included a maze for us to walk through. It used to be so much fun yelling towards our friends who were straggling far behind us, guiding them through it.

Every now and then the walls of the maze contained cool designs, making it look prehistoric or just plain artsy, probably to use as landmarks.

SANDBOX

The sandbox was the most fun to play in at the playground. We would bring our own shovels from home to construct our own archeological digs, we would bury each other all the way to our heads in sand, and sometimes, if we wanted to be funny, we would step on the head of our shovel to make the stick rise up and smack us in the face. My parents would tell me that if I dug deep enough, I’d get to China…

… For the record, I never got to China…

THE ICE CREAM MAN

Whenever that catchy nursery rhyme jingle could be heard in the far distance, kids would scatter and run towards the sound.

The object behind the sound was the ice cream truck. This could very well be considered the base of our “coffee break” during our playground playtime. In the summer time, carrying an ice cream cone back to the playground was just as proud of an accomplishment as carrying a trophy.

SWINGS

The swing set is a crucial aspect of the playground. In a generic swing set, there was inevitably two swings meant for little babies, and two meant for the older kiddos. So many teenage romantic moments were held on swing sets, as were fun games that we made up gradually as we grew up. And if you were real lucky, your dad would cement the legs into the ground so you could swing as high as possible without worry of crashing the entire set to the ground!

We would twist the swing all the way around and let ourselves go, spinning fiercely, or we would swing to the highest height that we could, and jump off the swing, flying into the air. Sometimes, to be jerks, we would throw the swing over the bar so nobody else could get to it. Sometimes if we were brave enough, we would stand on the swings and have our friend push us. Oh, to be young.

PICNICS

Mom would pack some sandwiches and some vegetables prior to taking us to the playground. All of this food would usually be packed into a nice picnic basket. She would also pack a blanket into the car along with the basket. In the middle of our playtime, mom would call us over. She would have the blanket laid out on the grass, gesturing for us to come sit down. We would sit Indian style on the blanket, chowing down on our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. After we were done, we were allowed to go play on the playground again.

What other playground appliances do you remember playing on? Let us know in the comments section below.

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