In the past, children didn't have as many toys as they do today and, therefore, they had to use more creativity to create them.
They used wood stumps, pebbles, vegetables and toothpicks to make animals, as well as games like hopscotch, Cinco Marias, marbles, circle songs, ring passes, spinning tops, flying a kite, among many others, and thus they enjoyed themselves for decades and decades.
With the advances of modernity, technology has brought toys that do not require children's creativity, as they already find everything ready.
A good suggestion to celebrate Children's Day is for the family to survey the games played by their parents and grandparents, taking the opportunity to have fun with their children, teaching them other forms of fun and the possibilities of creating games and jokes. The most important thing about it? Teach them that to play we don't need to spend.
So, here we present some suggestions for old games and pranks.
- Cinco Marias: this game consists of, firstly, looking for five small stones that are approximately in size or making small bags and filling them with rice or sand. First round: throw all the pebbles on the floor and remove one of them (usually the pebble that is closest to the other is removed). Then, with the same hand, throw it in the air and pick up one of the ones left on the ground. Do the same thing until you get all the pebbles. Second round: throw the five pebbles on the ground, then take one and throw it in the air, but this time take two pebbles at once, plus the one that was dropped. Repeat. Third round: five pebbles on the floor, one is taken and thrown into the air, this time taking three pebbles and then the one that was thrown. Last round: throw the pebble in the air and pick up all the stones that were left on the ground.
- Roda: in a circle, sing old songs and make gestures and representations of them. We remember some songs like I threw the stick at the cat, ciranda-cirandinha, the beautiful juvenile rose, the neighbor's chicken, the canoe turned, I joined the roda, little dog is barking, my hat has three points, father Francisco, lollipop that beats, samba lelê, if this street were mine, serra serrador, etc.
- Job's slaves: two participants sing the song “job's slaves, they played caxangá, take, put, let it stay, warriors with warriors zig, zig zá”. Each one with a pebble in his hand changes them and does what the music says.
- Hopscotch: the hopscotch is drawn on the ground, from 1 to 10, making the last number an arc to represent the sky. One-foot jumps inside each square.
- Top: a wooden top wrapped in a string. Pull the end of the string and it spins out. The great fun is watching the spinning top.
- Pass ring: participants have their hands together and one of them has a hidden ring. The person with the ring passes their hands inside the hands of the other participants until they choose one of them and let the ring fall into their hands, without the others noticing. Then you choose a person and ask yourself "So-and-so, who's the ring with?" and the person chosen must get it right.
- Jump rope: two people hit the rope and the other jumps. During the execution of the game, the scouts sing “one day a man knocked on my door and said: lady, lady, put your hand on the floor; lady, lady, jump on one foot; ma'am, ma'am, take a walk and go to the middle of the street”. At the end, the jumper must get off the rope without missing.
- Marbles: this game has several ways to play, such as box, triangle, boat and bogeyman, where participants must follow certain paths, hitting one ball against the other and, in the end, hitting the pockets.
- Flying a kite: choose a suitable and spacious place, where there are no electric power lines. The kite goes up with the wind and the participants are watching it from afar. Some people use cerol, a mixture of glue and broken glass, to cut the threads of other kites. However, playing in this way becomes dangerous and can cause serious accidents. So, use it just for fun by avoiding using cerol, even if someone gives you the preparation.
- Hot potato: participants sit in a circle and one person stands outside. They pass a ball, very quickly, from hand to hand and the one outside, with his back to the group, shouts “hot, hot, hot potato,..., it's burned!”. Whoever has the ball when the colleague says 'it burned', is eliminated from the game. The winner will be the one who is not eliminated.
By Jussara de Barros
Graduated in Pedagogy
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/dia-das-criancas/resgatando-brincadeiras-antigas.htm