Traditional Games

Marbles

A marble is a small spherical toy often made from glass, clay, steel, plastic or agate. These ball vary in size. Marbles can be used for a variety of games called marbles. They are often collected both for nostalgia and for their aesthetic colors. In India, there are many games with marbles. One simple game with marbles is called ‘Cara’ in which every player puts one or more marbles in a long line of marbles with each marble being one centimeter or slightly more, apart from each other. After this each player throws another marble as far as possible from the line, perpendicularly (Indiantraditionalgames.wordpress.com, 2013).

 

 

Pick Up Stick

Pick-up sticks is a game of physical and mental skill in which a bundle of ‘sticks’ between 8 and 20 cm long, are dropped as a loose bunch onto a table top, jumbling into a random pile. Each player in turn tries to remove a stick from the pile without disturbing any of the others.

 

 

Hopscotch

Hopscotch is a children’s game that can be played with several players or alone. Hopscotch is a popular playground game in which players toss a small object into numbered triangles or a pattern of rectangles outlined on the ground and the hop or jump through the spaces to retrieve the object (Kidspot.com.au, 2017).

 

 

Knucklebones

Knucklebones also known as Tali or Fivestones  is a game of ancient origin, usually played with five small objects. Originally the ‘knucklebones’ were those of a sheep, which were thrown up and caught in various manners. Modern knucklebones consist of six points, or knobs, proceeding from a common base, and are usually made of metal or plastic. The winner is the first player to successfully complete a prescribed series of throws, which, though similar, differ widely in detail. The simplest throw consists in either tossing up one stone, the jack, or bouncing a ball, and picking up one or more stones or knucklebones from the table while it is in the air. This continues until all five stones or knucklebones have been picked up. Another throw consists in tossing up first one stone, then two, then three and so on, and catching them on the back of the hand. Different throws have received distinctive names, such as ‘riding the elephant’, ‘peas in the pod’, ‘horses in the stable’, and ‘frogs in the well’.