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We do not have much information on outdoor play in France. Many of the play activities seem European wide including America. We do not yet know much about the games and other play activities French boys enjoyed. Many like chast perché (tag) and ache-cache (hide and seek) would have been played by other children around the world. We note a variety of traditional games, but they are not played a often as they once were. The games may have different names, but are basically the same. One such game which at first was played by adults was Blind Man's Buff. It could be played indoors or outdoors. The translation is 'buff de l'aveugle', but it was called 'colin-maillard'. This came from a medieval fight between a French lord of Louvain and a man named Colin who fought with a mallet and was blinded in the battle. Pétanque is a very popular outdoor French game and still is widely played. One source tells us, "... you'll see played in almost every French city garden and park at almost any time of day!" Other games include Escargot (Snail) , Jeu de la barbichette (Game of the Goatee), Les loups-garous de Thiercelieux (Werewolves of Miller's Hollow), and Bilboquet (Cup and Ball). Boys played war which was a kind of outdoor role playing game. Of course an important part of childhood is outdoor play. Billes (marbles) was very popular, but today less so. Mothers tend to disapprove and children are now more closely supervised than ever before. In addition there are now all kinds of video games with war themes. These are especially popular with children and seem to have replaced the war games boys once played outdoors. One popular play activity was a range of vehicles such as bicycles and other conveyances like scooters and pedal cars. These were at first expensive and only available to wealthy children. They became more available after World War I. Gradually they became more available as prices declined and incomes of average families increased. There were gender differences, concerning play. This was especially notable with outdoor play.
We do not have much information on outdoor play in France. Many of the play activities seem European wide including America. We do not yet know much about the games and other play activities French boys enjoyed. Many like chast perché (tag) and ache-cache (hide and seek) would have been played by other children around the world. We note a variety of traditional games, but they are not played a often as they once were. The games may have different names, but are basically the same. One such game which at first was played by adults was Blind Man's Buff. It could be played indoors or outdoors. The translation is 'buff de l'aveugle', but it was called 'colin-maillard'. This came from a medieval fight between a French lord of Louvain and a man named Colin who fought with a mallet and was blinded in the battle. Pétanque is a very popular outdoor French game and still is widely played. One source tells us, "... you'll see played in almost every French city garden and park at almost any time of day!" Other games include Escargot (Snail) , Jeu de la barbichette (Game of the Goatee), Les loups-garous de Thiercelieux (Werewolves of Miller's Hollow), and Bilboquet (Cup and Ball).
Boys played war which was a kind of free play outdoor role playing game. I can't recll any rule-bsed games we played on our own. They were mostly playe at parties. Most of our play was unsupervised. We just did our thing and mom rarely gave much attention unless we were getting into trouble. (Dad of course was at work except during the weekends.) Of course an important part of childhood is outdoor play. I can recall as a boy, most of what we played before sports took over as teens was free play games, basically role playing games like 'war' and 'cowboys and Indians.' I had a cowboy hat, cap pistol and gun belt for cowboys and Indians as well as a '45 for World War II affairs war games. As best we can tell, modern children are much more closely supervised and spend less time outdoors. We are not sure about French boys, but suspect something similar was going on. At leaat we see a lot of boys playing war during and after World War I. World War II may have been a little different both because of the huge losses during World War I and the fact France was defeated and occupied by the Germans (1940). Billes (marbles) was very popular, but today less so. Mothers tend to disapprove and children are now more closely supervised than ever before. In addition there are now all kinds of video games with war themes. These are especially popular with children and seem to have replaced the war games boys once played outdoors.
There were a range of skill games like marbles. We are not sure anout other skill-based games. In America his include knife games like 'mumbly peg. Therewere also card games like flipping hem to win the other guys cards. We used sports cards, especially baseball cards. We just do not know about Frace yet. Te same was the case for pennies.
One popular play activity was a range of vehicles such as bicycles and other conveyances like scooters and pedal cars. These were at first expensive and only available to wealthy children. They became more available after World War I. Gradually they became more available as prices declined and incomes of average families increased. There were gender differences, concerning play. This was especially notable with outdoor play.
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