Room for Few Toys

• There wasn't room to bring non-essential items when American pioneers were traveling to settle in new locations. Families heading out West to settle land and start new farms had to leave toys behind. According to a website maintained by the City of Tumwater in Washington, store-bought toys were expensive and relatively hard to find. Parents who bought their children toys or books generally chose items with educational or religious purposes. These items focused on teaching kids lessons and good behavior and served more than a recreational function.
  
  

Making Do

• Having few store-bought toys didn't mean that pioneer children didn't have fun. Kids found ways to turn outdoor chores into opportunities for play. For example, children would use animal bladders as balloons during the slaughtering season, batting them around outdoors. During the apple harvest, kids would help pick fruit but would also take time out to bob for apples with family and friends. Children made their own toys out of items found outdoors. Girls made dolls out of corn husks, while boys had throwing contests with sticks, rocks and even buffalo chips.
  
  

Less Familiar Outdoor Games

• Pioneer children played a team-based game called dare base. Two teams would each choose a home base for themselves, and children would try to run around the other team's base without being tagged. When someone was tagged, the tagging player got to choose someone from the opposite team to come and join his team. The game continued until one team collected all of the game's players and was declared the winner. Children also played games with stilts and hoops. One example was the game of graces, where children would throw hoops back and forth using sticks, perfecting their aim and catching skills.
  
  

More Familiar Games

• Pioneer children played other outdoor games that kids still enjoy on playgrounds today. For example, kids played shadow tag, where players were tagged when the "it" player stepped on their shadows. Pioneer children also enjoyed chain tag, which would begin with two "it" players running and holding hands. Other players would join the "it" chain once they were caught. Fox and Geese involved making a spoked wheel playing surface in the snow. "Goose" children would run around on the lines of the wheel while the "fox" tried to catch them. Although not called by the same name today, fox-and-goose-style grids are still seen painted on playground cement next to hopscotches. Marbles was also a popular outdoor pastime.