Games, series, cartoons, YouTube channels, Netflix, Galinha Pintadinha… phew! There's so much information bombarding our heads (and the children's) that we get lost and, in fact, we can't even keep up with so much news!
Obviously, new technologies have brought invaluable benefits for the expansion of information. Thanks to the internet, the world has become small and we are able to learn about the habits and customs of regions that we may not even get to know in person.
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The point is that, faced with such possibilities, we run the risk of forgetting our own roots. Lost in front of a computer for hours, children have stopped enjoying the outside world, burying traditional games.
Brazil, undoubtedly, is a rich country in terms of cultural heritage. Due to miscegenation, our vast territory concentrates, in the same region, European traits in the midst of indigenous and African traditions. Do you want wealth greater than this?
And the most interesting thing is that each region has its own history, its own identity in terms of tradition. Among so many items, regional games appear as the purest form of entertainment. Hence, the need to rescue them!
Educators play a fundamental role in this rescue. Through activities developed at school, it is possible to bring back those games we used to play back when we were children.
In addition, it is a way of working with the characteristics of the five regions of Brazil, by separating the traditional games of each one. Escola Educação begins today with games typical of the Midwest Region. Shall we meet them?
Very well known, the game has its origins in the City of Goiás (GO) and is done as follows:
– a child sits on a bench and will be considered as king/queen. Another acts as a servant/servant and rests her face on the king/queen's lap. The others form a line behind the serving child, leaning on each other's backs. Then, the queue sways sideways while the children sing in chorus: “Swing the coffin, Swing you, Slap it on the back and go hide”. At that point, the last one in line pats the front colleague on the back and hides. This must be done until reaching the servant/servant, who must look for the other children.
Originated in Alto Paraíso (GO), it starts with participants drawing a rectangle on the floor, dividing it into six square parts. At one end, draw a half moon with the word ALL. In each square, children write a word, following the order fruit-food-object-they-they-colors. The first player takes two jumps inside the first square and one outside, saying “fruit, fruit, outside”. Then it starts again, jumping to the other squares without, however, going through the crescent moon. Along the way, he says twice the name of a different fruit at each house. When he returns to the first one, he repeats “fruit, fruit, out”, jumping out. For example: fruit, fruit on the first square, apple, apple on the second, and so on, until you reach the sixth square. Fruit, fruit out on the first square, then jump out of the drawing. Whoever completes the first path without making a mistake, starts from the second house, changing the phrase to “food, food out”. And so on, until you reach the half moon ALL. If you get there without making a mistake, keep repeating the names of the houses, like this: All, all (half-moon); Fruit, fruit (first house); Food, food (second home); Object, object (third house); They, they (fourth house); They, they (fifth house); Colors, colors (sixth house); Everyone, everyone, out.” Whoever manages to do the first route, repeats it on one foot in the second phase, backwards in the third, backwards and one foot only in the fourth and, in the last two, they go through the drawing jumping like frogs.
One of the most traditional street games in Brazil, it has its origins in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso! First, the group draws hopscotch on the floor, just like in the picture. Then, one by one, they need to cross the hopscotch. The first participant throws a pebble at number 1 and then jumps the squares with one foot and the rectangles with both feet, one for each number. When you reach "heaven", jump with both feet together and return in the same way. Upon reaching square 2, you need to pick up the pebble that was left in square 1 and then jump out. If the pebble is in one of the rectangles, the number on the side must be jumped over with one foot. The game continues with the pebble being thrown at each number and, each time it is picked up, the player must jump out. When the whole game is completed and the participant reaches “heaven”, he must make his way back.
Another one that comes from Cuiabá! The “marias” are small cloth bags filled with sand or collected pebbles. The game is played in several stages and the winner is the one who goes the furthest. First, the five bags are dropped on the ground. The player chooses one of them and throws it in the air, but at the same time, he needs to pick up another Maria that is on the ground, with the same hand, and try to recover the one he threw, without letting it fall. If you manage to get them all, go to the next step. In the second, the challenge is to pick up two Marias that are on the ground before grabbing the one that was thrown. The game continues until the fourth stage, when the child needs to collect four pieces. In the fifth step, the Marys are placed back on the ground. Then the player needs to make a bridge with one hand. The rule is that the left hand is supported on the ground by the tips of the thumb and forefinger. Then, the child throws one piece up, passing Maria one at a time under the bridge. The one in the air needs to be picked up before it hits the ground. The player who makes a mistake passes to the next player, picking up where he left off when his turn comes up again.
This game also originated in the city of Cuiabá, with variations according to the region of the country. But in the Midwest, it usually works like this:
– the children stand in a circle, placing one hand on top of the other with the palm facing upwards. They all sing “English chocolate, it's in the customer's mouth, top quality” and hit the hand of the colleague sitting on the left, successively. As soon as the song ends, the one whose hand was last touched steps on the foot of the person next to him, but if he cannot, he can choose another one who was in the circle. And so on. Whoever takes the step needs to leave the circle and the game continues until only one child remains.
With origins in the City of Goiás (GO), the game begins by forming a circle in which everyone sits on the floor. Then they begin to sing the song “O Fulano ate bread at João's house”, always repeating it twice, quoting the name of someone who is in the circle. The child says: “Who, me?”. The group responds: “You do!”. The person says: “Not me!”. The group then asks: “Then who did it?”. And the child replies: “It was Fulana!”, citing the name of another colleague in the group. For the joke to end, the dialogue changes to “Who, me?”. The group then responds: "You did!", to which the child responds: "I ate it!". The group shouts: “Gluttonous! Greedy!”
Clapping game invented in the City of Goiás. Two participants clap their hands while singing the song:
“will stop
Paraty, will stop
Pereti, will stop
perere
Pereti, perere
Pereti, perereré
piriri
piriti, piriri
piriti, piriri
pororó
Poroti, pororó
Poroto, porororó
Pururu
puruti, pururu
puruti, purururu
big bread
Pãorãoti, Pãorão
Pãorãoti, Pãorãorãorão”
This one comes from Campo Grande, in Mato Grosso do Sul. First, everyone says “thickness” and puts as many fingers as they want on display. Then they count as if each one of them corresponded to a letter of the alphabet. Then, they need to say words with the chosen letter until someone makes a mistake. What to do wrong, take a pat with two fingers.
First, the children sort out who will be the hen, the fox and the chicks. These are at a certain distance from the hen, while the fox is between them. The chicks sing “peep, peep, peep”, to which the hen responds by calling them. Meanwhile, the fox is demonstrating its hunger, with howls and growls. When the chicks run towards the hen, the fox must try to catch them. The game continues with whoever manages to touch the chicken's hand. Those who are caught must line up behind the fox, leaving the game. The last one devoured by the fox wins.
The game was created in Alto Paraíso, Goiás. In it, children are divided into two groups of four to then draw a line on the ground, dividing the fields. Each group stands in its own field, close to the line, holding out its hands. To begin with, one runs out of a group, bumps into the hand of a teammate on the opposing team, and runs back. The one who took the slap needs to chase after the one who hit him. If the opponent has reached his own group and crossed the line, then the participant needs to hit another colleague's hand. If the one who took the slap enters the opposing team's field during the race, he has to go to that team. The team with the most people at the end wins.
One of the children needs to be chosen as the mother of the street. The others, then, are divided into two groups that must be separated, one on each side. The mother of the street stands between them. Players need to traverse the space, jumping on one foot, while the street mother tries to catch them. The one caught can help catch the rest by running with both feet. The first one caught will be the next mother on the street and the game only ends when everyone is caught.
Cuiabanos know how to come up with a good joke, don't they? In the Cordless Phone, the children were a very big circle. One of them whispers a phrase into the ear of the person next to them and this phrase needs to be repeated until it reaches the end of the circle. When the sentence reaches the last child, he must repeat it aloud.
The children arrange themselves in a corner of the court or street, while one of them is separated, chosen as the “taker”. The group asks “We want to cross the red river”, to which the catcher replies “Only if you have my color”. The group then asks “What color?”. The child, then, chooses a color and, the colleague who has it in some detail of the clothes or shoes, can cross. The others can try to pass to the other side without letting the catcher catch them. The first to be caught is the next catcher.
This one comes from the land of Cora Coralina, the City of Goiás. The children stand in a circle, singing:
“The girl at the wheel
It's a spiky cat
It has the mouth of an alligator
And the patched skirt
Here comes your Juca-ca
With a crooked leg
dancing waltz-sa
With Maricota
Daddy told me
What is a sin
Climb up the hill
With boyfriend-do”
At the end of the song, everyone hugs. Anyone left alone goes to the middle of the circle.
One more from the City of Goiás! The group chooses one person to be the catcher and run after the others. In order not to be caught, the player needs to name a fruit that has not yet been mentioned. If he doesn't say or repeats and is touched, he will be the next catcher.
Very cool joke that comes from Campo Grande (MS)! Children need to hang from branches. One of them is under the tree and you have to choose a colleague to get down from your branch and count to ten with your arms outstretched, like the hands of a clock that strikes 12. If the person goes down, he runs after them to catch them. If not, she needs to climb the tree and try to get it up there. If you manage to stay on the branch, whoever was caught has to go down and act as the catcher.
The last suggestion comes from Campo Grande and is played like that. A player says aloud “I went to the market and bought…”, saying the name of a fruit or anything that is bought in the market. The colleague needs to repeat the sentence of the first one, adding another purchase, and so on. The person who remembers all the goods and says his without repeating anything that has already been spoken wins.
