hen I think back to my
days on the playground
at school, one of the
games we played most
often was Red Rover. I
remember like yesterday how we gath-
ered, and two captains stepped forward
to begin choosing the teams. There was
no official way to choose the team cap-
tains. They were usually the two people
who were most dominate in the group.
I guess that was never me, as I never got
to choose a team. But, unlike other
games, when I was usually one of the
last kids chosen, when we played Red
Rover, I was always a hot candidate. See,
being big, and strong, was a real plus
when playing Red Rover. The big kids
could easily break through the chain of
the other team. It didn’t matter if they
couldn’t run real fast. And, they were
strong enough to keep the other kids
from breaking their chain! So, yep, I was
one of the first chosen!
How to play:
1. Divide kids into two teams of
equal size. (the two captains would take
turns choosing from the group to form
their team)
2. Each team forms a line and holds
hands creating a human chain. The two
lines face each other standing about 25
to 35 feet apart.
3. Decide which team will go first by
flipping a coin. (We never had a coin,
so we would draw straws!)
4. The team
that goes first
chooses
a
player from the
other
team,
and says, “Red
rover, red rover,
we call [name
of child on
other
team]
right
over!”
while swinging
their arms.
5. The player
named in the
chant lets go of his teammate’s hands
and charges into his opponents.
(he/she tries to find the weakest link in
the chain.) His/her goal is to break
through the opponents human chain.
If he/she succeeds, he/she picks some-
one from the opposing team to join his
team. (Of course, they would look for
the biggest and strongest to take to their
team! Go me!) If he/she fails, he/she
must become a part of the other team.
6. The next team takes a turn calling
someone over.
7. The teams take turns doing this
until one team succeeds in capturing all
but one of the players. Usually our win-
ning team was the team with the most
members when the recess bell rang.
Now, I don’t know why, but we
never had broken arms, dislocated
shoulders, or sprained wrists or
fingers. This had to have been a mira-
cle! Because, believe me, some of the
guys would run so fast, and hit so hard,
it was a definite possibility. But, I
noticed when I was called over, the
linked hands/arms I chose seemed to
be too easy to break. I think those kids
were smart enough to let go, instead of
suffering the pain of an injury.
Today, if you mention Red Rover to
kids, they have no idea what you are
talking about. Maybe if more kids
learned to play the old games, there
would be less childhood obesity. But,
hey, I played, and I was!!
It’s a shame to see these old time
games fade into history. Maybe some of
the grandparents out there can talk to
their grandchildren about these old
games, and start a new fad. And, all
things old will be new again!
W
By Delores Wood
Editor
Red Rover,
Red Rover,
Send Johnny
right Over!
38
SOUTHERN SENIOR MAGAZINE
| Winter 2016
