These days, kids have tablets and smartphones with no end of gaming apps to play, as well as carrying on with pals on social media.
But just like the short-lived fidget spinner a couple of years ago, Edinburgh school children in the 90s had other ways to keep themselves entertained in the form of various playground crazes.
We looked after our Tamigochi pets, we swapped Spice Girls and Pokemon cards, we taught each other yo-yo tricks, we wondered whether the alien baby really did give birth to another baby or if it was all just a myth.
READ MORE: A look back at 90s Edinburgh fashion and all the trends you're bound to remember
Here are a few of the best playground crazes that kept Edinburgh schoolkids occupied during the 90s - see how many you remember.
Spice Girls cards
There were few pop culture entities on the planet that were bigger than the Spice Girls in the 1990s, and, boy, were their marketing team aware of this not-so-small fact.
When they weren't busy churning out chart hits, the girls were having their names and faces plastered over absolutely everything from cans of Pepsi to bottles of perfume, but one of their most popular products - at least in the school playground - was a series of glossy trading cards that featured dozens of high-quality snaps of Scary, Sporty, Ginger, Posh and Baby.
Back in 1997, these cards were immensely popular among both girls and boys - despite costing a couple of quid just for a packet of five.
Pokemon cards
We loved collecting and swapping Pokemon cards, even if we didn't know how to play the game properly (Image: PA)
Continuing with the trading card theme....
Let's be honest, most of us didn’t actually know how to play the game properly. We were all just on the hunt for that Holy Grail shiny Charizard, and resented our parents for not forking out £20 to buy it from some guy’s stall. And most of us kept a hold of them hoping they’d be worth something one day. Oh, how wrong we were.
Yo-yos
Yo-yos were popular in the 90s and there was that one kid who was amazing at the tricks (Image: Getty)
This wasn’t exactly a new toy in the 90s but seemingly out of nowhere, developers launched all these fancy new yo-yos that would light up and make sounds. You’d see no end of yo-yo trick masters on TV and within days half the school were perfecting their Walk The Dog and Around The World skills.
Tamagotchis
Why did they always die? (Image: iStock Unreleased)
For many kids, their parents joked that they could have a pet if they managed to keep their Tamagotchis alive. But try as we might, they would somehow always die and the guilt was far too real.
Pogs
We collected Pogs but didn't quite know what they were for (Image: Argos)
Like Pokemon cards, many of us had no idea what you actually did with Pogs, but they were fun to collect and swap nevertheless.
Alien Baby Pod
Remember Alien Babies?
Out of all of the playground crazes of the 90s, this has to be the most bizarre (and they’re all pretty bizarre). A plastic egg held a sticky little alien baby covered in slime, and some even had smaller babies inside. Our parents must’ve been seriously freaked out by us all.
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Crazy Bones
Crazy Bones were all the rage for a while (Image: Sunday Mail)
Yet another thing we loved to collect and swap but didn’t necessarily play with, Gogo’s Crazy Bones had hundreds of individually named characters. But, of course, everyone wanted Sharkey.
Snap bands
These didn’t hurt to put on, but your pals still tried their best by smacking them against your wrist. Why were we allowed these again?
Beanie Babies
We wanted every single Beanie Baby not realising they cost a small fortune
We were all about the collections back in the 90s and our poor parents were guilt-tripped into spending silly money on these things. Even as weans, we saw them as an investment for the future and were heartbroken if we accidentally ripped their tag, making them virtually worthless.
Panini sticker books
Panini sticker books were the ultimate 90s playground fad
Football, wrestling, cartoons, movies - you name it, there was a Panini sticker book for it and we wouldn't rest until we'd completed them.
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