Preparatory Schools Boarding Weekday Activities: Free Time--Indoor Games
Figure 1.-- Here boys are playing a sports game in their form room during some free time. It was a game that could be played with only a few available minutes before dinner. Notice the tuck boxes.
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The children enjoyed a variety of games. Many children at prep school ages enjoyed board games. And boarding meant that there were always friends around of the same age and interests to play the games. This was one of the advantages of a boarding school. Getting tgogether to play games was a little more complicated for children living at home. The schools had all kinds of games for the boys to play. Here favoritws varied over time ahd by age level. There was also a matter of the time available. Boys and girls also had differentv favorites, although there was some overlap here. Short games were often the best given the short time periods available, at least during week days. Chess was popular, but most schools had a variety of games available. There were also card games. There were different places to play the games. Here the schools had different approaches. The games might be played in the form rooms or even the dorm rooms. Many schools even had a game room where the games were kept or other items like legos. The schools tended to incourage the children to play outside when the weather cwas good, but in Britain there are plenty of rainy days as well as the winter term when outdoor play was not possible.