A great deal of time for modern children is devoted to play, but what about kids of the past? They grew up in the era before screens dominated people鈥檚 lives. We asked local seniors what they did for fun as children.

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Helen Lester

She grew up on a farm in Ontario so she belonged to 4-H and spent a great deal of time doing farm chores.

鈥淲hen the cousins showed up, we鈥檇 play outside.鈥�

Dances played a big part in the lives of kids of yesteryear.

鈥淚 loved to go dancing. We had square dances. The townhall always had dances.鈥�

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Mary Dunne

Growing up in Edmonton meant Mary often went skating.

鈥淚 remember learning to ice skate鈥� on the style of skates that were blades strapped onto shoes.

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Pauline Koch

鈥淲e had lots of animals.鈥�

She grew up on an Aldergrove farm.

鈥淚t was lots of fun playing with all the animals. I had a pig named Curly.鈥�

Curly was the runt of a litter of 12. Since sows only had 12 teats, and as the runt, the pig would not have received enough to eat so Curly was raised in the house.

鈥淚 would have been about three or four because it was before I went to school.鈥�

She also got to raise a calf.

鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 very inventive. My calf was named Curly as well.鈥�

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Sharon Cutler

She devoted her time to fashion, using skills she learned in school growing up in Vancouver.

鈥淚 sewed all my own clothes in high school.鈥�

She remembers gathering for family dinners as well as spending time in her mom鈥檚 favourite places 鈥� Stanley Park and Queen Elizabeth Park.

She recalled that as a young child, still not old enough to go to school, her photo was taken in front of her parents鈥� corner store in Vancouver dressed in the same style as girl on the label of Sunbeam Bread. Her parents entered her photo in a bread company contest and won. The prize was a doll for Sharon.

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