George Pelletier

As adults, we love to tell kids stories about how we played outside until it was time for dinner, or the streetlights came on. Now with the advent of video games and stranger danger, a game of pick-up basketball can end with a free ride in the back of a white van, and all the candy in the world is not worth that trip.

Neighborhood kids used to play together. Now they text each other. When I was a kid, I would stand on the porch of a kid I used to play with and just sing-song her name. If I were her parent, I would have thrown fruit at me.

If games were more exciting, I think kids might be more inclined to play. Here are a few classics with a twist.

Taser tag: An update on the classic game Laser Tag, taser tag’s rules are simple. One kid, probably the rich one whose parents bought him an actual taser, is “it.” That person runs after the other players and tases them when in range. The kid on the ground shaking less wins. Still, I think most kids would only want to play this game once.

Truth or Dare: The Polygraph Edition: Remember playing Truth or Dare, where the truths were stupid, and the dares typically tiptoed around someone showing their underwear? Me neither. But add a polygraph to the mix and now it’s all about telling truths. Of course, someone in the group would have to spring for a lie detector machine and likely, a polygraph administrator but hey, think of the fun you’d have blackmailing each other when the wrong “truth” was spread all over Facebook.

Hula hoops: There is no advancement to this game. You put a piece of plastic larger than your waste and wiggle your body, keeping the hoop spinning. The kid with the gland problem who can’t fit inside the hula hoop automatically loses.

Dodgeball Done Right: OK, let’s all move past the terrifying memories of being nailed in the noggin by a large red rubber ball, thrown by the kid who was older and meaner than the rest of us because he stayed back a year. But add a catapult and switch the red rubber balls out and use large bags of flour instead and you’ve got yourself a contest. I suppose you could mix in some kind of baking element. The first kid beaned by a bag of flour has to whip up a batch of special cookies that look and smell delicious but taste strangely like the cookies that a kid was selling behind the school.

Mother May I Or Else: The “Mother” stands with her back turned and grants or denies requests to move forward. Even with her back turned, she probably knows everyone’s voice. The secret to winning the game is to slowly and quietly run away until “Mother” is alone and freaked out a little. She loses for not being a better authoritarian.

Sidewalk Van Gogh: We’ve all heard of kids playing “Sidewalk Picasso” where you take a normal looking face and place one eye in the middle of the forehead, add a nose that’s growing out of the chin and put hair growing out of the mouth. That’s a Picasso. But why not rile things up by playing Sidewalk Van Gogh. And since one kid has to lose an ear, I doubt this game will gain any wild popularity.

Gardening: This isn’t so much a game for your kid with the green thumb. It’s more of a game by the parent who is too lazy to mulch or lay sod.

Ghost in the Graveyard: And lame-O was its name-O. Whoever was the ghost would hide while the rest of the kids counted from 1 o’clock to midnight. The kids would then link arms and walk around the house chanting, “Star light, star bright, I hope I see a ghost tonight.” When I was the ghost, I would sneak into the house and just watch TV, unbeknownst to the other kids who would spend hours outside looking for me. I should have given them some gardening tools.