Primary Schools Teacher Resources

Playing Piggy Beds

Piggy Beds was a favourite street game for children in the tenements. Learn how to play it below.

You will need:

• An empty tin of shoe polish or empty drinks can
• Chalk
• A flat outdoor surface

1. Make your piggy

• Take an empty tin of shoe polish, or a drinks can, fill it with gravel or sand, and stamp on the top of it to make it a disc.

2. Draw the beds

• Find an even surface outside, away from any traffic or dangers, and chalk out a grid that looks like this:

3. Play

• Toss your piggy into square number one.
• Stand on one foot, and hop into the square.
• Kick your piggy into square number 2 - if it lands on the line, or goes outside the lines, you’re out.
• Hop into the next square. You’re only allowed one hop per square, and one kick per square.
• Keep going round the grid, and see if you can get all the way round without putting your other foot down.
• Square number 4 and 7 are ‘rest beds’ - you can put your foot down here and have a rest.
• Keep going all the way round to square number 1. Jump out and start again - throw the piggy into square number 2 and start again.