16 Things You’ll Only Know If You Were A 90s Kid In The UK – Prepare For Some Serious Nostalgia
If you grew up in the 90s in the UK, there are a few things you probably loved. Things like Furby, Super Mario, and the crayons found in every pub in the UK might be memories that you'd totally forgotten about. Until now.
Let's take a walk down memory lane now as we remember our favorite and cherished childhood classics. How many of these 90s things do you look back at fondly?
Getting Home In Time To Watch Art Attack Was Crucial
Every week Neil came up with crazy new challenges and created some amazing pieces of art that kids could join in with at home (if your mum and dad would let you!). Alongside his friend 'The Head', Neil co-hosted the iconic TV series which is sure to live on in every '90s kid's memory.
If you're struggling to remember this classic perhaps "This is an Art Attack. THIS is an Art Attack. THIS IS Art Attack!" rings some bells?
Summer Was For Tie-Dye
Ah, tie-dye. The most fun (and messiest!) summer holiday activity. With a £2 basic t-shirt and a couple of bottles of dye at the ready, you got to create your own super cool top. Growing up in the '90s meant there was minimal technology to keep you occupied, so arts and crafts were king.
Tie-dye shirts were trendy, arty and took less than half an hour to make. You then hung them on the line for a couple of hours to dry off. The best bit was the street cred you got when you told everyone you made the top yourself.
The Spice Girls Ruled
When it came to the pop charts, the Spice Girls were always always at the top and featured in every kid's karaoke list. "Spice Up Your Life," "Viva Forever," and "Stop" were probably up there in your top three songs of the '90s, no matter what your gender.
With the Spice Girls, there was something for everyone -- epic dance moves, sassy attitudes, and great vocals (kind of). In the '90s every girl wanted to be Posh Spice and every boy wanted to be David Beckham - what a time to be alive!
Sweets, Glorious Sweets
The sweets of the '90s were out of this world. From Parma Violets to Chewits to Flumps, the decade knew how to do sweets. There was nothing quite like hitting the corner shop after school and tucking into some delicious sweet treats with your mates.
Yes, the sugar content wasn't great and most of the sweets would probably be banned today, but back in the '90s e-numbers and sugar content were all the rage. Who could forget the candy necklace that every kid used to get in a party bag -- priceless.
Saturday Mornings Were For Ant And Dec
Before Ant and Dec hit the big time and started presenting the UK's most popular TV programs, they were Saturday morning heroes on kid's TV. Along with Cat Deeley (pictured) they picked up a BAFTA for Best Children's TV Show and Best Sketch Comedy Show in the late '90s.
Saturday mornings wouldn't have been the same without them bringing cartoons, comedy sketches, and the latest music releases into our childhoods. We trusted them on everything from fashion to pranks. As far as a Saturday morning as a '90s kid goes, Ant and Dec won the nation's hearts.
Life Without Wi-Fi Was Good
Hard to believe it now, but life without Wi-Fi was full of fun. Whilst we didn't have electronic tablets to play on like the kids of today, our lives were full of interesting real life games instead. The highlight of your day would be running to your friend's house after school to knock on the door and find out if they could come out to play.
Sometimes it was a yes, sometimes it was a no, but whatever happened you knew there would be kids to play with in the park. "Can I play?" became a frequently used phrase in your vocabulary and the world without Wi-Fi was your oyster.
Wearing A Football Shirt On Non School Uniform Day Was Everything
In the '90s footie shirts weren't just for a kick about down the park with your pals, they were for showing off. Depending on what club you supported, you were judged by the other kids when non-school uniform day came around.
Glory hunting was top of the agenda, and Liverpool, Man United, and Arsenal were always safe bets. Wearing a football short in support of a local team was a brave move and often frowned upon, so you had to be careful. If you were a '90s kid who liked football, your shirt on non-school uniform day was everything.
Going To The Local Pub Meant Crayons
Weird? Slightly. Fun? Very. Whilst the parents chatted and drank away the week's woes, Friday nights down the pub were all about the colouring in as a kid.
In reality, the adults probably didn't care what we were drawing but they always played along and encouraged us to have drawing competitions that they assessed at the end of the night. Colouring outside the lines was a huge no-no, and using special techniques like a smudge here and there always looked great. It was modern art at it's finest and became synonymous with '90s kid living.
Pillow Fights Were Serious
If you were lucky, at the weekend you were allowed to invite a friend over to stay. This meant one thing -- pillow fights.
What would start as a friendly pillow fight would nearly always end in tears. Either your mum would come and shout at you for making a racket and messing up your room (that had just been tidied for your guest), or you'd accidentally hit your mate too hard with the pillow. Tears or no tears, pillow fights were a right of passage for any child growing up in the '90s -- oh the fun we had!
Free Milk In Schools
The dairy-free five-year-olds of today would probably shudder at the thought of drinking milk everyday like we did, but it was great at the time. Free milk in schools has been going on since the 1946 Free School Milk Act, but came under contention in the '70s under Margaret Thatcher who stopped children over seven having access to free school milk.
For those kids who grew up in the '90s and were still under seven, free school milk in little cartons was still very much a thing.
You Were Royalty If You Could Do The Rubik's Cube
The Rubik's cube was a serious game - a challenge of both intellect and control under pressure. Most kids said they could do it, but when it came to the crunch they bottled it.
If, however, you were one of the chosen ones who could fix up a Rubik's Cube in front of a crowd, then you would be crowned the coolest kid in school. The Rubik's cube was actually made popular in the '80s, but in the UK it was the '90s that saw the rise of the puzzle.
Gameboy Made Gaming Portable
In the '90s the Gameboy made gaming a portable thing and as a child if you were lucky enough to own one, you were probably one of the coolest kids in school. Games like Super Mario, Tetris and Tennis were classics, and the when the GameBoy Colour came out it revolutionised the handheld gaming market.
There was nothing quite like hitting a new high score and challenging your sibling or best friend to beat it. If they didn't manage to, you would gain bragging right for a little while. But if they did, you'd probably throw a massive strop.
Super Mario Gained Icon Status
In reality, the heading is a little misleading as SuperMario has continued to have a moment and is possibly the best video game of all time. Whilst Super Mario was born in the 80s, it didn't hit the big time in the UK until the 90s, when everyone went Super Mario mad.
Remember the mushrooms that give you power and the flowers that give you fire? Oh, and don't forget the magic tunnels too. If you know, you know.
Crimping Random Bits Of Hair Had A Moment
This was an interesting trend, and one that was featured at every school disco alongside spray-on hair paint. Instead of crimping all of your hair as was popular in the '80s, the trick was to crimp random single strands that stood out. Pioneered by the likes of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, every kid who grew up in the UK in the '90s will have tried this look.
We all loved the hairstyle at the time, but it's probably best that it stays firmly in the past. The '80s called, and they want their hair crimpers back.
Westlife Had Some Bangers
Before One Direction, there was a boy band that took the nation by storm in the '90s and beyond. Westlife were the Irish boys next door who had charm, charisma, and dashing looks (even if their outfits were a little dodgy).
Boys looked up to them and girls loved them, and there was no shame in knowing every word to some of their bangers in the decade. "World of our Own" and "Swear it Again" topped the charts and brought Westlife into our worlds for good.
Getting Your Slinky Tangled Was A Nightmare
Slinkies were an amazing invention that every '90s kid in the UK loved. You could spend hours standing at the top of the stairs just pushing it down and watching it slink away. It was weirdly mesmerising and kind of relaxing...until it got tangled.
Once your slinky got tangled, you'd have to spend hours trying to unlink the chains without damaging the hoop shape that made it wind down the stairs so delicately. It was a struggle, but only once you'd had to put in the work to untangle your slinky (with the help of your dad probably) did you truly appreciate the toy when it worked.
