Ancient and Medieval Games
Gambling games were also very popular, and dice have been found from very old houses. Dice were sometimes made out of stone, and sometimes carved from bone or ivory (I think clay dice are not heavy enough to roll well). They had the same six numbers on them as today's square dice, arranged in the same way. And, because they were used for gambling, we even find some dice which had been loaded: a little piece of lead was hidden inside to make the die heavier on one side so it would land on that side more often! Playing cards were completely unknown in the ancient world, though people did play cards in the middle ages.
People also played games with knucklebones. Knucklebones are the vertebrae (the backbone) of medium-sized animals like sheep or goats, and the games you play with them are like jacks (In fact you can still find jacks shaped like knucklebones some places). As far as I know, however, jumpropes were unknown.
More information on board games, dice, and knucklebones
can be found at
http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/w/x/wxk116/roma/rbgames.html
We also find little wooden horses and wagons on wheels that you could pull along on a string.
Children had wooden blocks that they could stack up and knock down.
To find out more about ancient and medieval games, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:
Kids Around the World Play!: The Best Fun and Games from Many Lands, by Arlette N. Braman (2002). For kids. There are lots of ancient games in here too, even though the title doesn't say so.
Oxford History of Board Games, by David Parlett (1999). For adults - more like an encylopedia, very complete but hard to read.
Chinese games (Kung Fu)
Roman games (Gladiators)
West Asian games (Gambling and horse races)
Egyptian games (Dice)
Greek games (Olympics)
Islamic games (Polo and Chess)
Medieval games (Tournaments)
North American games (Lacrosse)
Teacher's Guides for Games
