JS’s has got a collection of erasers. The other night she was sorting out all her stationaries and the erasers were scattered on the floor. I picked up 5 of it and started to use it as a pebbles and played a game that we used to play long long time ago. I taught JS the game too and she was amused.
It crossed my mind that what games do the children play nowadays? We are in the technology era, do the kids still play all those “kampung” games?? Kids these days are either glued to the PC or TV. They bring Gameboys, Tamagochi and handphone to school, but is that all they play these day?
I remember during those good ole days, these are what we children played :
Stones/Pebbles game: Throwing and picking 5 stones with certain rules. Need at least 2 to play
Rubber band rope: Tie many rubber bands to form a long rope and one need at least 3 to play, to jump over at different height.
踢毽子 (something like a shuttlecock and you have to kick it without letting it land on the floor)
marbles: it’s usually boys game
ultraman cards: another boys game, can’t really remember how it goes.
Another silly game call AEIOU.
跳飞机： Draw boxes on the floor and hop in the box
These are the games that we usually play before school and during recess.
At home in the evening, all the children will gather outside to play “A Chi Chot” (Police catch thiefs) or “Kau Peng Peng” (Hide and seek), we play badminton (no court, the gate is good enough to be the net), skipping rope, cycling around the housing area.
I also had the experience of plucking wild fruit to eat and make drinks, playing sand, collecting tiles from construction side to decorate the sand cake, wrapping sand in leafs to make bak chang, and walking few KM away to someone’s orchard to pick rubber seed. We also play camping in discarded carton box…
When we were older, we also play other indoor boards games.
Do children nowaday still play all these games? Or they just interested in electronical stuffs and find out these uncool and old fashioned?
Nowadays beside those Malay Kampung where you can still see children running and playing outside the house in the evening, in the cities, it’s hardly seen. Parents in the cities, especially Chinese are very protective towards their children, most don’t even mingle with their neighbours or they simply do not have the time because they only come back late at night after work and stuck in the jam. Parents are worried to let their kids play outside the house, 1st, traffic has increased, more cars mean more prone to accident. 2nd, no longer safe. There are so many reported case of snatch thiefs and abduction even in front of one own house. And children in the cities are always rushing from one tuition/ extra classes to another, they have left with no time to play. They usually come home late and tired and they might not know who their neighbours are, let alone mingle around with the neighbourhood kids and play. Sad….
JS with her classmates
Posted by dragonmummy 
Posted by dragonmummy 
Posted by dragonmummy 
