What did children do in their leisure time before television, computer and mobile phones were invented?

Answer 1

Go outside and 'play,' sports, tag, hopscotch, stickball, kick the can, just running around and being kids.

In countries outside of the US, this still goes on a lot. In Paris, for example, going to parks and just hanging out is something of a national pastime--the teenagers aren't at home on the 'net or watching TV, they're all outside interacting with other, real, live individuals. Quite refreshing, really.

Answer 2

Who Invented Television For Kids

Answer 3

I was born in 1953, so... In the 1970s I was in my twenties, in the 1980s I was in my thirties. I really didn't have a cell phone until I was over 50 years old. All through my childhood and almost all of my adulthood, there was a pay phone on just about every corner, literally, and enclosed glass booths, as I say, on corners everywhere. The booths had full phone books inside. Every gas station had a pay phone. At grocery stores, there would be banks of two or three pay phones. Before I was born and (I think) still when I was very little, a local call cost a nickel. By the time I was old enough to use one (like, 8 years old) a local call cost a dime. Most parents made sure their kids always had at LEAST one dime on them at all times, in case they needed to call home from outside. If you couldn't find someone in the phone book, you just call "411" for the information operator. Many thousands of jobs disappeared when the long distance operators, information operators, payphone repair & "change collection" telephone workers were no longer needed. We got by just fine without cell phones. (Also, the term "land line" did not exist, since that's all there was - unless you were calling "ship to shore" from a boat, I guess!)

Answer 4

Listen to children's shows on radio- Tom Mix, The Shadow, Inner Sanctum
Saturday mornings at movies with cartoons and series like Superman and Gene Autry, Roy Rogers
Indoors- read Comic Books played cards and board games, made paper dolls, sew doll clothes
Outdoor games- hopscotch, marbles, jump rope, softball
In summer swimming and ping pong and semi organized sports and at night, hide and seek or kick the can

Answer 5

played outside
wandered through wooded areas,
built forts
made paper dolls
listened to their older relatives tell stories (esp. when they didn't know children were listening. Adults weren't very open about lots of things back then so kids had to sneak to hear the good stuff.)
used their imagination to make role-playing games--House was always good, but we played School and Spies (It was the 50's. What can I say?) Boys played Cowboys and Indians or war-related games.
Hide-and-Go-Seek around the neighborhood
dress-up, most girls had some dress up clothes for pretending to be princesses, or cowgirls or something (Costumes weren't just for parties or Halloween)
jacks, marbles, jump rope, hula hoop
walk to the store (Since parents wouldn't drive you, you could kill a lot of time just getting there.)
go to a school and play on the jungle gym or swings (Almost no schools had fences around them.)

Answer 6

Spin tops
play hide and seek
hand games
go bowling
take walks
play with other children]
draw
colour
write
learn to cook (so cute)
play cops and robbers
read
football
soccer
cricket
swimming
other sports
play beauty contests
make overs
other made up games
fly kites
use their imagination
clubs: pottery, scouts etc...
sell lemonade

Answer 7

Unlike today, kids then had imaginations. And they went outside to play, and to use them. Nowadays, kids are glued to television sets, video games, and telephones. They want the world to entertain them. That's why they have no imaginations anymore, are overweight, "bored" , depressed, and in inadequate physical condition.

And you know who is the root of this problem? The parents. They're out working double shifts to get their kids this stuff. And then they can't understand why their kids are turning out like they are.

Answer 8

In my family, we read books;
learned to paint;
attended judo classes;
attended Girl Scouts;
played in the woods;
modeled clay into weird and wonderful things;
baked cookies;
played with construction paper, microscopes, and bicycles;
studied anatomy (Dad had some great medical books!); and had a ferociously good time.

Answer 9

From the poem of Ronald Dahl, it was written that children read and read all day. They aso play outdoor games and get into small groups to chat. Unlike us, they are more happy and healthy than us.

Answer 10

Play around with other children