These are the schoolyard and roadside games: more competitive, with plenty of skill and bragging rights. Most use things you already have, like a juice box, a stick of chalk or a few stones.

Jump to a game: Dandy Shandy · Marbles · Gig · Kite Flying · Skipping · Chinese Skip · Jacks · Hopscotch · Stucky · Bat and Ball

Watch it played: Jamaican childhood games, growing up (YouTube)

← All Jamaican games

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6. Dandy Shandy

Ages: 7–16 · Players: 3+ · Equipment: A soft ball (often a juice box stuffed with paper, or a stuffed sock) and an empty bottle · Where: Outdoors

How to play

1. Two “throwers” stand about 6–10 metres apart; everyone else stands in the middle.
2. The throwers pelt the ball at the middle players, who dodge.
3. A player who is hit is out. A player who catches the ball earns an extra “life” or saves someone who is out.
4. Between throws, middle players may fill the bottle with sand or stones. Filling it fully wins the round for them.
5. The last player standing becomes a thrower.

Tip: Keep the ball soft and agree “no head shots”.

Watch it played: Games Jamaican kids play: Dandy Shandy (YouTube)

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7. Marbles (Taw)

Ages: 7+ · Players: 2–6 · Equipment: Marbles; a ring drawn in the dirt · Where: Outdoors, on flat dirt

How to play

1. Draw a ring roughly 1 metre across; each player puts an equal number of marbles inside.
2. Take turns “knuckling down”: rest a knuckle on the ground and flick your shooter (the “taw”) with your thumb.
3. Any marble knocked out of the ring is kept by the shooter, who shoots again.
4. A miss passes the turn. The game ends when the ring is empty; most marbles wins.
5. Agree beforehand whether you play “for keeps” or “for fun”.

Watch it played: Marbles, father and son, Jamaican style (YouTube)

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8. Gig (Spinning Top)

Ages: 8+ · Players: 2+ · Equipment: Wooden tops (gigs) with a nail point; string · Where: Outdoors, on hard ground

How to play

1. Wind the string tightly round the gig, starting at the point and working upward.
2. Throw it down hard while holding the end of the string, so it spins.
3. Contests: longest spin wins, or scoop the spinning gig onto your palm.
4. In the battle version, players try to strike and split an opponent’s gig with their own.

Tip: Gigs were traditionally carved from guava or other hardwood. Practise the throw slowly before trying the palm pick-up.

Watch it played: How to make a gig, the Jamaican spinning top (YouTube)

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9. Kite Flying

Ages: 6+ · Players: Any · Equipment: Thin bamboo sticks, kite paper or plastic, string, glue, rag strips · Where: Outdoors, open field with wind

How to play

1. Tie three thin bamboo sticks together at the centre to make a six-point star.
2. Run string round the tips, then glue on light paper or plastic.
3. Tie a bridle from the top, centre and bottom to a knot in front, and attach your flying line there.
4. Add a long tail of rag strips for balance.
5. Run into the wind to launch, then let out line steadily. Contests: highest kite, or “kite fights” to cut a rival’s string.

Tip: Easter is the classic kite season in Jamaica. Fly well away from power lines.

Watch it played: How to make a Jamaican bamboo kite (YouTube)

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10. Skipping (Jump Rope)

Ages: 6+ · Players: 3+ · Equipment: A long rope · Where: Outdoors

How to play

1. Two players turn the rope; others line up to jump in.
2. Jumpers chant rhymes and must jump in time, sometimes doing tricks: touch the ground, turn around.
3. A player who trips takes a turn at the rope.
4. “Salt, vinegar, mustard, pepper!” style chants speed the rope up until someone misses.

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11. Chinese Skip

Ages: 7+ · Players: 3+ · Equipment: A loop of elastic about 3 metres long · Where: Indoors or outdoors

How to play

1. Two players stand facing each other inside the elastic loop, stretched round their ankles.
2. The jumper does a set pattern of jumps: in, out, landing on the elastic, straddling it, often to a chant.
3. Complete the pattern without a mistake and the elastic moves up: ankles, then knees, then thighs.
4. Miss a step or get tangled and you swap places with a holder.

Tip: Knot old elastic waistbands together if you don’t have a long piece. It tests agility and footwork.

Watch it played: Chiney Skip, as played in the lane (YouTube)

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12. Jacks (Jox)

Ages: 6+ · Players: 2–4 · Equipment: 5–10 small stones or metal jacks; a small ball · Where: Indoors or outdoors

How to play

1. Scatter the jacks on the ground.
2. Toss the ball up, pick up one jack, and catch the ball after one bounce (or before it lands, in the stone version).
3. Next round, pick up two at a time (“twosies”), then three, and so on.
4. Missing a jack or the ball ends your turn. The first to finish all rounds wins.

Watch it played: How to play Jacks, step by step (YouTube)

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13. Hopscotch

Ages: 5+ · Players: 2+ · Equipment: Chalk or a stick; a flat stone (the “tah”) · Where: Outdoors, on a yard or pavement

How to play

1. Draw a grid of numbered boxes: singles, and side-by-side doubles.
2. Throw the stone into box 1, then hop through the grid on one foot (two feet on doubles), skipping the box with the stone.
3. Turn at the end, hop back, and pick up the stone on the way.
4. Next turn, throw into box 2, and so on. Stepping on a line or missing the box ends your turn.

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14. Stucky (Freeze Tag)

Ages: 6–14 · Players: 5+ · Equipment: None · Where: Outdoors

How to play

1. One player is “it” and chases the others.
2. Anyone tagged is “stuck” and must freeze with legs apart.
3. A free player can unstick them by crawling between their legs.
4. When everyone is stuck, the first one caught becomes “it”.

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15. Bat and Ball (Yard Cricket)

Ages: 7+ · Players: 4+ · Equipment: A bat cut from a coconut bough or plank; a tennis ball; a crate, pan or stones for a wicket · Where: Outdoors, yard or street

How to play

1. Set up a wicket: a crate, a pan or stacked stones.
2. The bowler bowls; the batter defends the wicket and hits for runs between two marks.
3. The batter is out if bowled, caught, or (by local rule) if the ball goes over the neighbour’s fence.
4. Whoever gets the batter out bats next. No teams needed.

Watch it played: Kids playing Dandy Shandy and bat around the boundary, Jamaica (YouTube)

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Rules vary from parish to parish, so treat these as the common version and let local custom win. Did you play it differently in your district? Tell us in the comments.

More Jamaican games: Young Children’s Games (Ages 3–8) · Table Games for Teens & Adults · Family & Community Games (All Ages) · All games