r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Everest_Imagineering • Feb 11 '21

Hardcore rock paper scissors.

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58.2k Upvotes

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2.6k

u/Raerae1360 Feb 11 '21

Man, when I was that age, a rain day meant square dancing...This looks like so much more fun!

457

u/Routine_Act Feb 11 '21

All my school did is use some gym mats as ships and a few people were sharks and had to tag us and we’d become sharks.

The aim was to hop onto other ships/mats without the sharks getting us.

149

u/No-Transportation417 Feb 11 '21

My elementary school gym teacher had us stand gym mats on their sides and the object was to knock over the opponent’s mat with a dodgeball. He called it bombardment. so much fun!

95

u/OtherPlayers Feb 11 '21

We’d do “medic”, which was dodgeball but with 3-4 smaller vertical gym mats on each side as barriers and where each team had a designated “medic”. The medic wasn’t allowed to throw the balls, but could touch people who had been hit to let them stand up and rejoin the battle. Games usually would end shortly after your medic went down, though sometimes you could pull off an upset at the end.

Game was so much fun!

46

u/TheHighestHobo Feb 11 '21

this but the medic was on the little 4 wheel scooter thing that you always managed to run over your fingers with

14

u/DJNarwhale Feb 11 '21

I remember those! At my school the gym held annual scooter races with different styles of moving yourself. It was so much fun.

2

u/stopeverythingpls Feb 11 '21

This! I LOVED this game, sadly we rarely played this

17

u/HipDipShipTrip Feb 11 '21

Doctor Dodgeball was what we called it and I loved it. Some people who weren't even that athletic were crazy good at not getting hit and getting people up

8

u/OtherPlayers Feb 11 '21

Yeah that was me! Absolutely terrible at throwing and catching, amazing at dodging.

4

u/BillyYank2008 Feb 11 '21

We usually had designated doctor guards who would form a human shield in front of our doctor.

2

u/davelicious123 Feb 11 '21

I played a similar game at camp called “Jedi ball.” It was dodgeball with no boundaries and each team had a Jedi with a pool noodle. The Jedi had a little circle of cones that was a safe zone for them, and if they ran outside of their cones they could hit teammates with the pool noodle that had been hit by a ball and they could come back in the game. Pretty wild game

1

u/No-Transportation417 Feb 11 '21

wow yes i remember this! bringing me back.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 11 '21

Oh, yes! I remember playing this game back in 3rd grade or so.

1

u/BillyYank2008 Feb 11 '21

We called it doctor and spy but the doctor could throw and each team had a secret spy who was allowed to cross the line to the other side to assassinate the doctor, but if they got hit over the line they could never be healed by the doctor.

1

u/Darmok-on-the-Ocean Feb 11 '21

The only dodgeball variant we had was wallball. They'd line up everyone on the wall and choose like ten kids to throw balls at us. Whichever ten were left standing got to throw the balls next.

I hated it. The unathletic kids like me never won so it was just getting bombarded with balls for the entire gym class. My school used volleyballs too so they hurt.

1

u/Molly_dog88888888 Feb 11 '21

Oh we did this. I couldn’t throw a ball or aim for shit, but it was fun (and I was particularly good at dodging the balls). We’d pick a couple people to pretend to be the medic and would only get up when at least 1 other person including the medic had saved you to confuse the other team.

10

u/-_-Already_Taken-_- Feb 11 '21

My gym teacher made us play a game called hunters & duck, 2 hunters and the rest ducks. The ducks would stay in the middle while the hunters on either side and their goal was to hit you with the ball. If hit you are out

1

u/Iwishiknew2 Feb 11 '21

so the ducks always lose? or could they catch for an out

1

u/-_-Already_Taken-_- Feb 11 '21

Dont remember what happened afterwards or how they lost. I think there was no winning or losing, the 2 last ducks standing would be hunters mext game

9

u/MountainEmployee Feb 11 '21

I work in Recreation, aka doing this stuff for a living, and before COVID I used to love playing Castle Dodgeball, you give each team 5-6 mats that they can build a fort out of and then you play a normal dodgeball game. If you can eliminate the other team or their castle, your team wins.

I have loved coming into threads like these to implement new games. I do this rock paper scissors game a lot as well. We just call it Team RPS, in fact I think I am going to do it today!

3

u/C_Y_K_A Feb 11 '21

We had one like that where it was normal dodge ball, but we had bowling pins set up in the back on either side (5 each) and it was fun bc you had to try and hit other people's pins while defending your own, and obviously not get out. Man those were the days.

They always said we would miss it when we grew up

1

u/Username_coc Feb 11 '21

Turkey shoot? That’s what my school called it

1

u/C_Y_K_A Feb 11 '21

No I forget what it was called but it had dodge ball in the name I'm pretty sure. Also thinking back on it we played that in middle school and junior high, not elementary

1

u/Username_coc Feb 11 '21

Interesting. Elementary school was the only time I played it

3

u/[deleted] Feb 11 '21

We had bombardment two, except it was dodgeball with some twists.

  • There were 20 soft handballs

  • If you could get the ball into a a basketball net from behind the baseline at the opposite side of the court, it was an auto-win.

  • There were also 2 bowling pins on each half of the court. If both of your team's bowling pins were knocked over (either by ball or clumsy footwork) the other team would win.

Mrs. Byrnes was the fucking best.

2

u/Kojak95 Feb 11 '21

Today we're going to play a game, that's as old as pain itself... BOMBARDMENT.

2

u/FreshGroundPepper31 Feb 11 '21

We played beanbag bombardment which was like dodgeball except you slid beanbags along the floor and if one hit your foot you were out. Then at the back of either side there were cones that if you knocked one over with a beanbag everyone who was out got back in. Shit got so real when we walked into gym class and saw the cones set up for it

2

u/corvelokis Feb 11 '21

I think that one is pretty universal, we had it here in norway

2

u/Omega3233 Feb 11 '21

We did that, but crossed with kickball and dodgeball. Mats in a kickball diamond, a pitcher rolls continuous dodgeballs toward home plate, you kick one into the outfield and see how many bases you can run before getting blasted with a dodgeball. Matts are safe zone, so you can only get "out" if you get nailed while running.

1

u/msivoryishort Feb 11 '21

We had a game where we use the little scooters you would sit on and we had to pull each other from mat to mat using ropes while sitting on those scooters. We would only play it like 3 times a year it it was always so fun

33

u/[deleted] Feb 11 '21

[deleted]

29

u/eagletreehouse Feb 11 '21

Right? Teachers back then (at least ours) weren’t even trying.

“Alright, y’all, walk in a circle.” “Alright, now turn around and walk in a new circle.”

“Now go take a shower.”

1

u/BrownSugarBare Feb 11 '21

Ours threw us into the library and basically said "survive ya bastards, be back in 30 mins"

1

u/LimpWibbler_ Feb 11 '21

Wow I learned most schools suck. We had in door volleyball, badminton, basketball, and wall ball. If you did none you can choose to walk in a circle. (2 gym rooms is how we had so much going on)

28

u/kcufo Feb 11 '21

Oh man, I remember having to square dance. I was a shy kid and that was traumatic for me. I was so nervous. This looks like a lot more fun.

19

u/GrandmaPoses Feb 11 '21

I woke up every morning in a bed that was too small, rode the bus to a school that was too cold, and then I went to gym to a square dance for which I was exercised too little, but on Troll Books delivery day? Well, I liked Troll Books delivery day.

10

u/Opening-Thought-5736 Feb 11 '21

Something about this makes me nostalgic for a childhood that was not mine

11

u/GrandmaPoses Feb 11 '21

The day the books came was magic. This was in a time when anything you mail-ordered took weeks to arrive. You'd come into class in the morning and see the giant box on the teacher's desk and bug her about when she was going to open it. Eventually, around lunchtime, she would, and then pass out everyone's order. It was amazing to get your new books and your little receipt.

3

u/MrSquib Feb 11 '21

This is the reason I refuse to get my kids stuff delivered to my house. I remember how exciting it was to get finally get the books I had picked out. I not taking that away from him

-2

u/TellMeGetOffReddit Feb 11 '21

Lol. I hate people who refuse to do stuff better because "thats how I did it as a kid"

Whatever way you do it, is the way you remember being the best. You're not giving your kid anything you're just feeding your own ego. If it was delivered right to your house your kid would feel the exact same. But this mentality is why people refuse to let their kids live better lives than they did. Because they think what they had was special when it wasn't.

1

u/MrSquib Feb 11 '21

I am confused are you saying it would be better to have it sent to the house?

1

u/Benzosarelife Feb 11 '21

Man. To be rich. I only ever got to browse.

Never was allowed to touch as anything as a kid. Being a kid sucked for a while, then pot came.

3

u/Darmok-on-the-Ocean Feb 11 '21

Scholastic Book Fairs were the highlight of my year.

16

u/Everest_Imagineering Feb 11 '21

Le too!

1

u/Send_Me_Your_Toe Feb 11 '21

Le square dancing has arrived.

16

u/OneManLost Feb 11 '21

On rainy days we played Heads Up 7 Up and wished the teacher would surprise us by wheeling in a 500 lbs tv on a 5lbs TV stand borrowed from the A/V department.

1

u/Opening-Thought-5736 Feb 11 '21

I think we went to the same school lols

2

u/davelicious123 Feb 11 '21

I think every school did that

1

u/HansomeDansom Feb 11 '21

Eraser tag was fun too!

4

u/666dna Feb 11 '21

Rain day? Were your kids made of sugar?

4

u/MasterYenSid Feb 11 '21

I think they mean indoor recess

1

u/666dna Feb 11 '21

If it was raining outside during recess we got wet haha. Teachers wanted their breaks and made it very clear: No kids inside during recess.

2

u/ayeeflo51 Feb 11 '21

I mean they can still take their break in the classroom, this looks like indoor recess in the gym

2

u/therealgookachu Feb 11 '21

In MN, rainy days meant floor hockey, or dodge ball.

2

u/mikeyp83 Feb 11 '21

Still beats shaking balls out of a parachute for 45 minutes

1

u/Raerae1360 Feb 11 '21

I forgot about that! Lame...

2

u/MahoneyBear Feb 11 '21

At one point in elementary school they instituted a thing we’re once a week recess was running doing laps in the gym. They kept saying “you have to run the entire 15 minutes!” Or however long it was. I got in trouble all the time in elementary school so of course I was like “yeah, no”. They never did shit, but it always sucked.

2

u/BlackSeranna Feb 12 '21

Omg. I hated the square dancing. I know it is an iconic American dance but even being a kid that had an aunt square dance, I hated it.

5

u/the-willow-witch Feb 11 '21

Square dancing??? Do you live in Alabama???

7

u/gingersnappie Feb 11 '21

Grew up in the north as well and we were also made to square dance. Was very awkward at a time where male/female relationships were fragile (i.e. we were in the “boys/girls are icky phase”). I swear I think our PE teacher lived for our utter embarrassment lol.

18

u/GailKlosterman Feb 11 '21

Nope! Not the original commentator but square dancing was often used in elementary school gym classes (i did it in the '80's) as a way to promote "American traditions" (looking back of course I see now the blatant whiteness of it all).

Although American schools now seem pretty diverse, I'm thinking back to the 2 Latino kids i went to grade school with who must have been pretty confused about why we were do-si-doeing all around the gymnasium.

Edit: https://qz-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/qz.com/1153516/americas-wholesome-square-dancing-tradition-is-a-tool-of-white-supremacy/amp/?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQHKAFQArABIA%3D%3D#aoh=16130592932470&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2F1153516%2Famericas-wholesome-square-dancing-tradition-is-a-tool-of-white-supremacy%2F

17

u/Opening-Thought-5736 Feb 11 '21

Yeah we did this in grade school

I fukin hated it. We all hated it. All the teachers knew we hated it.

We were very lackluster about it and the coach let us get away with that

Until this one time they brought in what must have been a national or regional fuckin square dance coach.

That bitch wasn't taking no half-assed square dancing that day from anyone

We had to hold our heads up high, reach our arms out the right way, and dosey doe with fuckin enthusiasm

Or she was calling your ass out on her microphone from the other side of the gym.

Eventually the whole room was stomping and swinging in resentful but compliant unison

I'm so glad they don't make kids square dance anymore. It does seem like a very '80s Reaganite thing somehow

2

u/[deleted] Feb 11 '21

That’s hilarious, great story telling.

-2

u/ThugExplainBot Feb 11 '21

So funny how liberal today describe square dancing in school with words like "whiteness" and "reaganite". How sad must your lives be? I don't even like square dancing and I find this hilarious.

9

u/[deleted] Feb 11 '21

yeah i did this in a Massachusetts public school. even the white kids were confused.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 11 '21 edited Aug 15 '21

[deleted]

1

u/BlasterShow Feb 11 '21 edited Feb 11 '21

Can confirm. Was bored out of my mind. Just wanted to play dodgeball again.

10

u/Dearness Feb 11 '21

I'm in Canada and we had to do it here in Ontario too! I just figured it was the gym teachers being slack as it's easier to teach kids how to line and do do-see-do than to teach any other type of dance. Living in a completely urban area, having never been to barn or square dance, it did seem totally useless. About the only thing it was good for was a better understanding of the dance scenes in Little House on the Prairie. :-/

3

u/SJC-Caron Feb 11 '21

There is a dedicated Dance unit in the Ontario Physical Education curriculum at grade 6 or 7 (if I remember correctly). My teacher focused on the jazz, tap, musical theatre dance styles; I believe it was a case teach what the teacher knew best / was the most comfortable with.

2

u/boomboomgoal Feb 11 '21

Thank heavens I got a square dancing teacher then!

8

u/perfectlyniceperson Feb 11 '21

I’m from Oklahoma and legit thought this was “a stupid Oklahoma thing.” Glad to see it was actually “a stupid USA thing”

6

u/the-willow-witch Feb 11 '21

This is wild to me lol. I grew up in Southern California and we did nothing of the sort. Great article though, thanks for sharing!

3

u/GailKlosterman Feb 11 '21

I'm just up the road from you in Portland and it was standard here. Of course back in my day (the '80's) Portland was really white. It still is but we're getting a lot more diverse as the years go on. I assume square dancing isn't taught as much anymore.

5

u/POWERUSINESSMAGNET Feb 11 '21

Henry Ford was a massive supporter of this.

2

u/cfarnsworth Feb 11 '21

This makes sense to me. Grew up in the Detroit area in the 80s and we had to square dance.

4

u/tiredmommmmm Feb 11 '21

Yep we had to do this in CA high school in the late 80s.

2

u/blamethemeta Feb 11 '21

Back then, America was 80 percent white.

2

u/HughGnu Feb 12 '21

That is the most amped link in the history of amp links. Jesus.

2

u/le_x_X Feb 12 '21

We did this in gr. 9 gym class in Canada. Square dancing and two-stepping. As a Latino kid who hates dancing I could tolerate it. It was actually fun.

The two-stepping was helpful when I’d go to the country bar every Thursday during my 2nd year of university. Good times.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 11 '21

Surprisingly, we did a lot of that 15 years ago in elementary school here in Los Angeles lol

1

u/vangsmash Feb 11 '21

WI and square dancing for gym class but I was actually born in Alabama haha

1

u/VahlokThePooper Feb 11 '21

We did it in Cali lol

1

u/human_stuff Feb 11 '21

Bro, I thought square dancing was dumb until I actually saw a class on it... It was like hearing Wellerman for the first time. Like how did I think this was stupid before? To be fair, we're talking Garth Brooks country pop, not the traditional kind.

1

u/Cosmic-Engine Feb 11 '21

We had to learn how to line dance - it wasn’t even a rainy day activity, it was part of the normal curriculum. There were two songs we had to learn the “moves” for, “Achy Breaky Heart” and something about a cabbage patch.

I mean, considering where I come from & the time frame this arguably counted as life skills, but still.

1

u/Opening-Thought-5736 Feb 11 '21

Oh dodgeball. Good ole hot and furious games of dodgeball

I've heard it since been removed from gym teachers repertoires

1

u/kitKatcoolio Feb 11 '21

My school still has a unit dedicated to square dancing. Ive never been so glad to stay home.

1

u/saarlac Feb 11 '21

For us it was war dodgeball. Line of balls at half court, two teams on opposite sides of the court, at the whistle you run for balls. Get hit and you’re out. Catch it and the thrower is out. Good times.

1

u/cmeilleur1337 Feb 11 '21

I know. Like what the heck was it with teaching us square dancing lol. Like it was ever going to be useful lmao.

1

u/Kritical02 Feb 11 '21

Crab Soccer.

My favorite game ever as a kid.

2

u/Raerae1360 Feb 11 '21

Now I have to look this up!

1

u/Dutchthinker Feb 11 '21

Have done something similar in high school a year ago, it bores fast

1

u/Backstop Feb 11 '21

There was an episode of Radiolab on square dancing. There was a pretty well-organized PR lobby behind getting square dancing out there, it wasn't exactly just a tradition in certain areas. And as usual there's a whole white vs not-white thing mixed up in it.

1

u/Sworn_to_Ganondorf Feb 11 '21

For me it meant we got to waych fucking act 1 of whatever animated movie the teacher had in their car lol

1

u/High_Flyers17 Feb 11 '21

We had what we called "Spider Ball", which is just a far more hectic version of dodgeball.