Elizabethan leisure facts for kids

During the Elizabethan era (from 1558 to 1603), people had many fun ways to spend their free time. Both rich and everyday people enjoyed these activities. They included exciting animal fighting events, team sports, and individual sports. People also played games, watched plays, listened to music, and enjoyed the arts.

Exciting Pastimes and Animal Sports

In Elizabethan times, some popular activities involved animals. These are now called blood sports, but they were common back then. Cock fighting was very popular. People would bet a lot of money on which rooster would win. Even King Henry VIII had a special place for cock fighting at his palace.

Young boys sometimes brought their own fighting roosters to school on Shrove Tuesday. They would spend the afternoon betting on the fights. The most famous cock-fighting place in London was in Drury Lane. Most towns and villages also had their own fighting pits.

Other animal sports included bear-baiting, bullfighting, and dog fighting. Another activity was cock throwing. A game called bowls was also very popular during this time.

Hunting and Falconry

Hunting was a favorite activity for the rich nobility. They hunted animals like stags, boars, hares, and foxes. They often used greyhounds and Irish Wolfhounds to help them.

For the upper class, hawking was a very popular sport. This involved training a hawk or falcon to hunt. It took a lot of time and expensive equipment to train and care for these birds. Because of the cost, hawking was too expensive for most people.

Queen Elizabeth I loved both hunting and hawking very much.

Team Sports of the Era

Elizabethan football was quite different from today's game. It was more like modern rugby union or rugby league. Two teams would rush against each other. Their goal was to get the "ball" through the opponent's goalposts.

Another popular sport for young men was "cudgels." This was a type of stick fighting. It helped train people for sword fighting, but they used wooden wasters or simple cudgels instead of real swords.

Individual Sports and Games

People also enjoyed individual sports like running, jumping, and fencing. Jousting was a thrilling sport where knights on horseback fought with lances. Archery and skittles were also practiced. Fishing was seen as a very relaxing and peaceful pastime.

Children had fun playing games like leap-frog, blind man's bluff, and hide-and-seek. These games are still enjoyed by many children in Britain today.

Indoor Games and Music

Elizabethans loved playing card games. A game called triumph, which is similar to today's whist, was very popular. People also played dice, backgammon, and draughts. Men mostly played these games, as it was not considered proper for women to gamble. However, Queen Elizabeth I enjoyed playing cards and often gambled. People would bet money on these games.

Music and Dance

Music was a huge part of life during the Elizabethan era. Many families would have musical performances in the evenings. Children learned to sing and dance from a young age. They often performed in public during these family gatherings.

People played keyboard instruments like harpsichords, clavichords, dulcimers, and virginals. Woodwind instruments such as crumhorns and flutes were common. Stringed instruments like lutes and rebecs were also widely used.

Court dances included the pavane, galliard, the almain, and the volta. Popular folk dances were the branle, The Barley-Break, Nobody’s Jig, and the Shake-a-Trot.

Theatre and Plays

Watching plays was an extremely popular way to spend time. William Shakespeare's plays were especially loved by audiences. Many theatres were built in and around London during this period. Famous ones included "The Globe", "The Swan", and "The Fortune".

The plays used very little scenery on stage. However, they used many props to make things look real. For example, if a character was shown being cut open, real pig organs might be used on stage to make it look very realistic.