where2look4ancestors

What indoor games did you play as a child? How do they differ from the games your children or grandchildren play? What do you know about the games your grandparents played as children?

“Memory, perishable and enduring, is the brain’s archive. It is a marvel of neuronic circuitry, as Joshua Foer explains… It is through memory that we hold on to those we love.” [1]

Whether you blog to share stories with your children or grandchildren, to record the past for future generations, or you simply journal to recall some of your fondest memories, I hope you’ll find my 52 Memory Prompts [2] helpful.

If you post in response to this theme, please use the tag 52 Memory Prompts to be included in upcoming Roll Calls.

Board games I remember from my childhood include Candy Land, Life and Mystery Date, but I spent lots of time coloring. I liked to outline everything and always stayed inside the lines. (Pretty boring, right?) We had a ping-pong table in the basement for a while which I loved. (That training comes in handy when I compete with my husband on the Wii.)  I had an Etch-a-Sketch, a Barrel of Monkeys, a Chatty Cathy doll and lots of Barbies (remember Midge and Skipper?).

My daughters didn’t really care for Barbie, preferring Strawberry Shortcake and Cabbage Patch dolls instead. We played a number of board games when they were younger including Candyland, Clue, Hungry Hippos, Monopoly, Operation, Sorry and Trivial Pursuit. Many of these games were still around when the grandkids were little and I enjoyed their enjoyment of the old classics.

Now it seems most indoor games for kids involve use of the computer or TV.

I don’t recall any of my grandparents talking about the games they played inside as kids. I vaguely remember my paternal grandparents playing cards as adults, but I don’t know what card games they enjoyed.

[1] Excerpt from the Editor’s Note, page 4 of the November 2007 issue of National Geographic.

[2] I composed 52 Memory Prompts in 2012 for use as blog post generators in 2013. Memory Prompt #1 (unpublished) was “What goals or resolutions have you set for the New Year? How are they similar to or different from goals you’ve set in the past?” Memory Prompt #3 will be posted January 20th.