I often find myself doing wardrobe clearouts – it makes space for new items (ha ha just don’t tell my husband!) and also makes me realize what I actually have in there. I find it so hard thought throwing out things I deem as having gone out of fashion because really, is there such a thing!? We thought big shoulders died in the 80’s along side perms and neon but hey presto when Balmain sent their models down the runway a couple of years back with pointy shoulders it sparked a major revival.

It’s the same with many of our hobbies and pastimes – it seems that different leisure activities seem to come in waves, and those that we like the best just keep on coming back. Every Christmas there is always a huge revival in retro toys making big bucks on the internet perhaps as we pine after the good old days! 

Roller skates and hula hoops
There are lots of retro games and sports that you can do with your kids, as well as by yourself. Take roller skating for example. Do you remember your first pair of roller skates? I sure do – I got them for about my 9th of 10th birthday and my god was I excited, I can still picture opening the gift on the morning of my birthday and hours were spent perfecting the art.
Roller skates are seemingly back in fashion now, like manye a retro toy that seems to reappear for a lot more than it would have originally cost back in the 80’s. Make me wonder should we throw nothing out nowadays in case it fetchs money in the future?!
Hula hoops are one of those things that every household seems to own and seemingly has done for decades. I remember fondly my Nana when she used to come to mind us as kids she was great at the old hula hoop despite her age at the time! I actually find it pretty hard to do it now, maybe I’ll blame the two babies for that but it can also be a really great abdominal exercise, once you get the knack of how to keep the hula hoop around your waist and not around your ankles.

DIY Jam

Making jam is something that’s certainly reminds you of days gone by, yet it seems that millions of us now prefer our own jam to the shop-bought variety. Perhaps it’s the fact that we can then control the amount of sugar that goes into it or the fact that people are growing their own fruit more nowadays and making jam is a great way to preserve the excess.
At this time of year, one of the simplest preserves to try making is cranberry sauce and it’ll look great on your Christmas table. A good tip is to start off with a small quantity so you can hone your technique rather than risk spoiling a large batch. In January, the supermarkets will be selling Seville oranges – the best for making marmalade with. There’s something supremely satisfying about bottling a batch of jam and marmalade and thinking ‘I made that!’
Again this is another great retro activity to do with the kids – they’ll love the bit when you pour the sugar in and, of course, eating something they’ve helped to create on their morning slice of toast.

Of course, there’s always something new to try as a way to spend our free time, but there’s a lot to be said for those perennial pastimes that seem to peak in popularity again and again.

Brilliant bingo

When you were a teenager, you probably would have associated bingo with your granny and her friends – it wasn’t a game that young people played at all. Now, though, bingo’s had a huge revival thanks to it becoming an online game. I used to work across the road from a Bingo hall during my PhD and was always surprised at the range of ages of the people who used to play – from old to young every generation was involved. Yes, you can still play in a bingo hall, but 85% of today’s players visit places like the bingo games from 32redbingo, Take a Break and Cheeky Bingo, where you can dip in and out of games at a moment’s notice. As the game’s online, it’s become a game for everyone, not just a certain segment of the population. Part of the attraction of playing 32 redbingo isn’t just the games themselves; it’s the bingo chat rooms too, where you can socialise with other players. The chat rooms have made online bingo more of a social pastime than its predecessor – you don’t need to concentrate on the number calls as the software does this for you. This means you can keep an eye on the game, but focus on the conversation you’re having as well.