Rocketship
By the time I played on this rocketship at Southridge Park, the “authentic” U.S.A. markings and decor had all worn away and all that was left was the bare metal.
I always imagined that playing on this to be much more fun than it actually was. I envisioned all of the kids on the rocketship pretending to be on the Starship Enterprise. I didn’t care that the ship didn’t look like the Enterprise. I imagined that I would be the captain and that I would have a good friend to be my Spock.
I NEVER had that experience.
Whenever I was taken to Southridge Park to play, the rocketship was full of unimaginative kids who just wanted to climb. They didn’t want to pretend to have adventures.
As an adult right now, I don’t know which is better: the kid who wants to pretend to have an adventure instead of enjoying the one she’s having or the kid who has no imagination.
Via: Explorer Rocket I Retro Playground Equipment I 1974 Catalog I Plaidstallions.com
Adventure! I was always coming up with these games and making (?) the other kids play them with me. (There were about, NO exaggeration, 300 kids within walking distance. So there were a lot of kids to play with.)
Funnest games:
pirate Tools: sticks, random pieces of fabric. range: all over a huge “circle” in the neighborhood including the backyards of people’s houses in the circle.
Snow spy Tools: none range: the very snowy hill behind and between a couple houses in the circle. We would make trails all over the hill and then run all through the trails chasing each other or pretending to be chased.
Everyday games from chores: Dishwashing game: we had to hurry and wash dishes as fast as we could before our supervisor came up the elevator (we were on the -imaginary- top floor) we would wash faster and faster, luckily, just in time, something would happen to delay his trip to the top floor and by the time he got there, we would be all, dishes, what dishes?
Maybe when I have kids it will be the impetus to play these kinds of games again. I really made up a lot of fun – to me- ;) games.
Comment by B. — 3/21/2008 @ 1:12 pm