Kids enjoy 'Olde Time' games in Batavia

Hula hoop doesn't seem like a dangerous activity.

But don't tell that to Rita Sutton.

"I think I just put my back out," she said with a laugh.

Sutton had just tried her skill at the ages-old game that she grew up with.

As she watched her three grandchildren try their hand at the game of graces, Sutton sat and rested on a stone bench. In a world where Wii, Nintendo and Play Station dominate, she'd enjoyed seeing some old-fashioned fun at work.

"It's fun to see the grandchildren try these games," she said. "It's fun to see them do games that take physical skill."

That was exactly the idea behind Batavia Public Library's Olde Time Game event. Sutton and her grandchildren had attended the library's Game of the Week, which featured an old-school theme. Parents and children took their turns at games like hula hoop, hopscotch, pick up sticks, and, by far the most popular game at the event, Game of Graces. Kids received stamps for each of the 14 games they attempted.

Game of Graces is a two-player game dating back to almost 1830. A player holds a wooden hoop on two dowel rods and flips it by spreading the rods apart. The second player must then catch the hoop on their own dowel rods to score a point. First person to reach ten points wins.

Nick Wilson. 10, of Batavia said he liked the game because it kept him active.

"You get to move a little bit," he said. "It's easy once you get the hang of it."

He said he and his brother, Jeff, 11, did not keep score but probably ended in a tie.

Nick said he and Jeff usually play games like home run derby, kickball and Whiffle ball at their home.

"My boys would rather be outside," said Ann Wilson, the boys' mother. "We do have the (video) games, but you have to limit that. If you don't have the video games, they're just going to want them a little bit more."

The library's director of youth services Joanne Zillman said she enjoyed Kick the Can and Hide-and-Seek as a kid.

"We pretty much spent the whole summer outside or on the porch reading or playing games," she said. "You could play these games with just one other friend or a whole slew of kids. These games could accommodate any number of people."

As games have evolved, the popularity of outdoor activities has taken a back seat to electronic games.

But Zillman said this is no different from when she was young.

"We played games our grandparents didn't play," she said. "Now the kids are playing games we didn't play. It's a progression from one thing to another. Like the graces game; that's a game that's new to me."

For Rita Sutton, watching her grandchildren helped her remember her childhood - a time when she could keep the hula hoop up a lot longer than she did at the event.

"I played them much better when I was 10 than I do now," she said. "That was really fun. It brings you back."