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Fun and games for the children growing up in rural communities duing the years before TV, the internet, and video games, highlighted their vast imaginations for creative play with few store-bought toys or formal sports teams. Old Eatons and Sears catalogues became the source for paper dolls. Sticks, leaves and boards were fashioned into miniature boats, The woods around the communities' edge could be transformed into battle grounds for cowboys and Indlans, the trails imagined escape routes for pirates and boundaries for hide & seek. Every old shed or broken down stage was a potential club house. Most children felt free to wander the community, free to walk the shore and climb the hills without the fear of speeding cars, abductors, gangs, and many of the dangers today's kids can see daily on the television news. No one had to phone home or give parents a detailed itinerary of their activities. So long as they were home by mealtime or to do their chores, they were allowed to be free with their play time. At the same time, all the adults were in one way or another parents to all the children, keeping an eye out for their safety, around the water especially. As Tony Kearney from Croque says, "You opened your door and that was it. Whatever was in Croque was at your disposal. You never worried about being mugged by strangers. You had all the outdoors but you were safe in a confined area of the community. We were outside as long as we wanted but there was always some child's name buzzing around the harbour. Where are you? It's time to come home. What's changed today is you don't hear that echo, just cell phones ringing. All of my son's friends have cell phones and their parents know where their children are 20 times a day.

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Girls in front of the Northern Glow Cafe.
1968
Roddickton, NL

Credits:
Candace Cochrane

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A small boy wearing a traditional Newfoundland cap.
1960s
Hooping Harbour

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Cowboys and Indians was the biggest game of all. That was the show! Every day there was a group of us who would ge together adn there'd be little foot paths everywhere so we could run nd hide away. We'd make our own guns and we'd shoot everybody. We'd all come back to life agan at the end of it.

Tony Kearney - Croque

We played a lot of cowboys and indians when we were kids, a lot of cowboys and indians. We had trails all up through the woods that we played on. One girl was innovative enough to have a bunch of horses made for us - you know a stick with heads on them and a little rope around the head. We'd run around with these sticks and play cowboys.

Cindy Coates Musgrave - Main Brook

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Chasing the tire game.
1968
Roddickton, NL

Credits:
Candace Cochrane

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We were never in the house, not for a minute. We were out from daylight till dark. We spent hours and hours in the coves. We climbed around the rocks, We went over the River Sticks, climbed out the rope, right out to the end. We didn't care if the water was low or the water was high, we were going anyway. First Cove, that's where we had all the campfires.

Margaret Byrne - Conche

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Sledding near the Co-op.
1970s
Conche, NL

Credits:
Candace Cochrane

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In the wintetime, if we could get an old salt bag or a piece of canvas to ride on, that's all we needed. We never had no ski pants or ski gloves or boots then either,
but we spent some time outdoors in the snow.

Josephine Flynn Clark - Croque

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Jumping into snow drifts.
1970s
Conche, NL

Credits:
Candace Cochrane

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Playing with hoola hoops.
1979s
Grandois-St Julien's

Credits:
Candace Cochrane

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A Sunday walk at Chest Head
1970s
Conche, NL

Credits:
Candace Cochrane

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There was no problem for us to go outside and entertain ourselves for hours. I know the parents would be calling, Come home to your supper, and keep calling. You just didn't want to quit and go back inside.

Joan Weir Kinden

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Daring roof walk
1960s
Hooping Harbour

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Sledding
1970s
Conche, NL

Credits:
Candace Cochrane