Nothing beats the joy of having a fun playing time with friends and family. Childhood gives kids the perfect opportunity to spend as much time as they exploring different types of games. Not only is it a great way of promoting physical activity, but it also prevents boredom and helps in making the best use of leisure time.
Other than the modern-day games that your child can play, there are a number of traditional games of India that are not just conceptually engaging but also promote physical and mental fitness. These games have a history of hundreds of years and have been played by the people of India for generations. Making your child play such games is also a great way of enhancing their cultural awareness.
Playing games is not just about having a fun time. It is a great way of making your kid more social and cooperative with other kids. Other than having physical benefits, games may also enhance your child's concentration and creativity. Here are several traditional games of India that your child is going to love.
Also called hide and seek in English, this game in India has been popular since the Vedic era. It is a game that involves problem-solving, teamwork, and high agility among kids. One kid who takes the term is supposed to find the other kids who get 30 seconds to hide in different places. The kid who gets caught first ends up taking the turn to find other kids. The cycle keeps repeating, and everyone gets a fair opportunity to hide as well as seek.
This is a popular game from the Southern part of India and traces its origin in Tamil Nadu. Later on, it became popular with other neighbouring states like Karnataka, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh. To play this game, one needs a rectangular game board that has seven vertical columns and two horizontal columns. Other than this, there are 14 cups on the board and 146 different counters. Traditionally, shells or tamarind seeds are used as counters. The game is generally played between two people.
People from the 90s might have some very formed memories of spinning lattoo in the afternoon with their friends. It is believed that the toy goes back to at least 3500 BC and has been popular ever since then. Kids these days have the opportunity to find a variety of lattoo in various shapes and colors. It is a multiplayer game in which kids wrap their latto with the string and then unwind it at the same time. The child whose lattoo keeps spinning for the longest time ends up winning.
The game translates into black elephant and white elephant in English. It is believed that this game originated in Karnataka. Though a simple game, it's quite engaging and meant for two players. Each player will have a fixed number of pieces that they need to arrange on their side of the board. The game begins with the first player rolling the dice. As per the number of the dice, they would remove the opponent's pieces from the board. The player with the most number of pieces standing in the end is declared the winner.
Ashtapada is considered a primitive version of modern-day chess. Just like chess, the board for this game has an 8×8 square grid. However, all the squares are of a similar colour. It is played with a dice, and there are various markings around the corners in the centre of the board. The game starts with each player having an equal number of pieces on their side of the board. The pieces are meant to move clockwise and enter the territory of the other player. Ultimately, the player who ends up reaching the castle of the enemy territory is considered the winner.
Chain is a highly engaging game that requires multiple players. One player starts with their turn, and all the other members have to run to avoid getting caught by that particular player. As the game proceeds, the player with a catching turn ends up tagging other players and forming a chain. With every consecutive turn, more people start getting added to the chain after being caught. The last man standing is declared the winner.
Aankh-micholi is a very popular traditional game of India that is still played in many parts of the country. It is like a variation of hide and seek. One player is declared as the denner and is blindfolded. A boundary is created, and all the other players, along with the denner have to stay inside the boundary. The job of the other players is to tease and run around the denner. Whoever is tagged by the denner ends up getting blindfolded and becoming the denner.
Traditional games have been a major component of Indian culture. These games have served as a constant source of entertainment to not just kids but adults as well. Such games are quite strategic in nature and promote physical activity as well.