R is for READING



A CHILD'S ALPHABET
OF FAVOURITE GAMES
(for a communal colouring book)
all images are copyright and courtesy
Colin Shelbourn     www.shelbourn.com

A is for Archery
Ping! in the sky!
Up! Up! Up! Until you can't see it!
Then it hits you in the eye!

B is for Badminton
so graceful to see
whiz! ping! whack! goes your birdie
and it's 15 nil, me!

B is for Bicycles
BMX are the Best!


B is for Boomerang
Mine never came back


B is for Bowls

Come down to Tottenham Hale
On a sunny evening
And see the concentration
As you watch the Pavillion.

Bowlers play
for their Club's prestige.
See the smiles, hear the banter
As they now go in for tea.


B is for Bridge
and it takes four to play.
I don't knw why that is,
Adults like it that way.

C is for Carrom
You have to be quick,
You think you are winning
And lose with a flick!

C is for Chase and Hide
or, as you say: Hide and Seek
Seek and see what actually is
Uncover the shadows beneath!

C is for Cards
Cheating is fun
But when you win
You don't really feel happy.


C is for Conkers
every swing is a song
remembering conkers
one, two, conk - and they're gone

C is for Cricket
Called our National Game
Try to remember who's playing
(They all look the same)

C is for Cricket
playing with my mother
in bright sunlight
in her sari!


D is for Dancing
Glide across the floor
Bow to your parntner
Bow some more!


D is for Dancing

Ribbons twirling, bright and wide
Children laughing, skipping round
May Day Maypole Dance


D is for Dog Walking
Very hard to do!
You tell Fido to Heel,
and then he walks you.

D is for Doll

My favourite doll, Patsy,
in her pretty blue gown.
now sits with  Linda,
her own china companion,
in my mother's house.



D is for Double Dutch
But you must never always touch!



E is for Elephant-riding
If you find one in your room
Take a zoom!


F is for fencing
Swish! Swish! Goes your blade.
Oh, no, you've poked Granny.
What a mess you have made!


F is for Food Shop
selling sugar cubes, and more
a counter, and scales
and a latch on the door.


F is for Football
G is for Girls.
Guys dislike me
Because I can play
football as well

F is for Football
Football is exciting
Winning is the best
Feeling ever.


F is for fOOtie:
all eyes on the goalie
and the goal!


G is for Getting Locked Up
For selling Pies
That had gone off.


G is for Golf
midges in Scotland
mosquitoes in Kent
playing golf in Cornwall?
paradise


H is for Hide and Seek
make sure you don't peek!


H is for Hopscotch
Hopping along all day.
Don't hop too far
Or you might stray!


H is for Hopscotch

Never hop too fast
You may not last.
Think of hopping to
The Future, in the past.

H is for Hopscotch

I used to like  Hopscotch,
Playing with my friends
Riding my BMX bike
and playing jacks.


Hopscotch in the Council Chamber
Bouncing balls down marble stairs
Hours of playing in the lift
Mommy's The Mayor!


H is for Hopscotch
Happy to play
Hop Skip, Jump.


H is for Horse Riding
Clip clop down the lane
Over the jump
And do it again!

I is I have fallen off!

I like coffee,
I like tea
I like Rosie
In  with me.

I didn't drink coffee,
I didn't like tea.
But I loved my friend Rosie
Skipping with me.


I is for  I - Spy



J is for Jogging
new joggers all look the same
Either grumpy and huffing and puffing
Or grumpy and limping and lame.



K is for kites
Up in the air!
Higher and higher!
Gone.


K is for Knock, Knock, Ginger ...


L is for Lego
Which I don't understand.
It doesn't look like Elvis
IT doesn't even look like a man!


M is for Manhunt
A game we used to play
It got sort of violent
But what can you say!


M is for Marbles
perfect and round


M is for Marathon


M is for Mates
Who stay in your life
Forever.



M is for Monopoly
Boy, it was fun.
I really enjoyed it
Although I never won.

My brother Brian used to cheat,
My sister Vania used to cry
My big brother Philip was ALWAYS the banker
But I don't know why.

Those were the days. All four
Of us hunched around the board,
Trying to buy up all the properties
For the ultimate reward.

Now everyone has flown the nest,
So it's just not the same.
And the Alexander Family no longer
Have time for fun board games.



M is for Monopoly

The Bankers always cheated
The Banker always won.
And now our country's in a mess
The Bankers became Bankers, every one!



N is for Nail Banging
More a trade than a sport
You hold the nail steady
and then BANG! Oh! It hurts!



N is for No Games
I can't remember playing as a child



O is for oil painting
An easy art to learn
But if you're asked to paint the dog
Paint the canvas, not its fur!


P is for Pass the Parcel
R is Rover, Rover
A is for Apple on the String
M is for Musical Chairs
S is for our baby sisters and cousins
left in prams while we play


P is for Ping Pong!
A game I adore!


P is for Playstation
It always is fun
I like how the game is
But I never win!
(yes I do)


P is for Poetry
the best game of all!


P is for Poker
A grown-up Game
Pretend that you're winning
and then lose again.


P is for Postman's Knock
Don't Get Caught!


Q is Twenty Questions
Mr. Paxman plays this game
But of his 20 Questions
19 are the same.


Q is for Quoit ...
I don't know how to play it
It's a good word for Scrabble
(but I don't know how to say it.)

R is for Reading


Library books are priceless
They're the one thing everyone can afford!
I read one, cover-to-cover , every day,
And then I go back to get some more!


R is for Rounders
Some Boys call it Baseball for Girls
because those Boys can't play rounders
well.


R is for Rugby
And girls can play,  too
So if you don't see them
it's just they don't want to!


S is for Scrabble
Whatever that means
Like stubble or scruple
or scrazzle - or spleen!


S is for Shopkeeper

A little girl in her bedroom
Making a Post Office
Happy.


S is for Skipping
Better than Tripping
Life is a mission
So I Carry on Skipping!


S is for Snakes and Ladders
To take your counter high and low
Choose your colour, toss the dice,
And off you go!


S is for SNAP
the best game ever!


S is for Statues
The music stops, and you shout!
Who ever is moving?
I saw you move!
You're out!


T is for Table Tennis
Bat, ball, table, net
Eye, hand, brain as one again
Joyful time at play.



T is for Table Tennis
It needs two or four to play
Back and forth the ball goes
Until someone misses




T is for Tag

You're out!


T is for Tennis
Yes!
Andy Murray is best!
But Henman Hill
Sounds better.


T is for Tree Climbing
Even in Tottenham
there are trees to climb
and adventures for a child.


U is for Umbrella

You mustn't play with it inside
You mustn't keep putting it up and down
Don't Up! Don't - Oh no! - Hide!


V is for Volleyball
Needed: two teams, a court, a ball & a net
Or if you prefer
you can play on a beach
If you don't mind if your toes getting wet!



W is for Water Polo
Best played with sea-horses
(ponies drown)


W is for Whist
Hearts are always trumps


W is for Wrestling

Wrestling with my brothers
always ended in tears
but also made us bond together
always there for each other.


W is for writing poems
which I love!


X is for the cross in noughts and crosses
You win by putting three in a row
Yes! I'm winning! I just need one more ...
Oh no! ... an O!


Y is for YoYo
Go up and then Down
Go Walking the Dog
And then Round the Town


Z is for zenith
The top of the top!
We've played all our games
And now we must stop!