STEPPING INTO THE FORGOTTEN WORLD OF YESTERYEARS

‘Games are nature's most beautiful creation; they  lubricate the body and mind.’

Classes: III-V

Activity: Students learn and teach

The learning intention was to find out about the traditional games played by
the generation that is struggling to cope with the modernised gadget games but is still unable to let go of the games it played. The students were brainstormed questions to ask a family member to gather the information needed to start the bridge project. This was an inquiry learning project and involved using skills from several curriculum areas like Social Science, English and Language and Technology along with an IT component. Students learnt that the games of yesterday are similar to the games played today. Although with time changes have taken place as this is a living culture and constantly responds to the time and the context. The students were divided into groups to play Cat’s Cradle of Russia, Yut Nori of South Korea, Pong Hau Ki of China, Martinetti of Italy, Hopscotch of India and Gutte of Nepal. Class V leaders demonstrated the games to the groups and explained the rules of the games. They also helped rest of the students to participate and abide by the rules of each game. The aim of the activity was to enable children acquire values and skills inherited over time and through experience. The forgotten era of traditional children’s games that are embedded with rich repositories of historical, environmental, social, scientific, mathematical, social, kinaesthetic, visual, and musical knowledge needs to be passed on to the future generation. The volunteers did a wonderful task of bridging the gaps, pulling children and connecting them emotionally. The parents lauded the efforts and eagerly awaited the Fun Day that was promised as a bonanza.