The Traditional games of Guatemala Have roots in the games practiced by civilization Maya . This ancestral culture lived on Guatemalan soil around 1500 AD.
Some of the Games Enjoyed by children in Guatemala are also popular in the rest of the world. The majority of Guatemala's population is in poverty or has limited access to many resources.
For this reason, the most traditional games in the country are simple games, which do not require much clothing and can be practiced by all children, regardless of their economic condition.
The most traditional games in this country are ideal for playing in the streets. Be it running behind a soccer ball. Compete to win some colorful marbles. Hitting a piñata hard or running a race carrying an egg with a spoon.
There are traditional games in Guatemala whose origin is Spanish and were brought to Guatemalan soil with colonization. In this way, the avioncito (hopscotch), tries (takes) or the five (marbles) had its origin in Spain, but were adapted locally.
You may also be interested in These curiosities of Guatemala .
Traditional games of Guatemala
1- Ulama
Ulama is a ball game based on the ancient Mayan sport that is still played today. Evidence indicates that other Central American cultures also played this game.
The objective of the ulama is to keep the ball in play within the lines of play. Generally, five or more players from each team play and points are awarded when one of the players fails and sends the ball out of the game area.
In this game it is only allowed to hit the ball with the hip. The rules indicate that the team wins the game by first scoring eight points.
2 - Piñata
The game of piñata is popular in almost all Hispanic cultures. The piñatas in Guatemala are traditionally made with wire and have the shape of a donkey, later covered with paper to form thick walls. Once covered the form of the donkey, you will be colored paper to decorate it.
The game consists of hitting the piñata, in this way, the people who are participating in the game will take turns to beat it to break it, then, many sweets should leave it.
3- Football
In Guatemala both children and adults of all classes enjoy the game of football. All that is needed is a ball and a place to run to play. This game is the most popular sport in Guatemala and many children dream of being famous soccer players someday.
The sport arrived in Guatemala in the mid-nineteenth century when English sailors settled on the coasts of the American continent and began to play in ports. This phenomenon occurred initially in Argentina, then expanded to Mexico, passing through Guatemala in 1862.
4- Egg race
This is a traditional game that children play since the end of the 19th century. This game is also practiced in different parts of the world and is played by holding a spoon in the mouth and placing an egg in the concave end of the spoon.
Once all the participants are formed and with the eggs located, they should advance to the finish line, taking care that the egg does not fall from the spoon. In this way, whoever does not drop the egg wins.
5-Chamuscas
It is called scorpions to the street form of playing football. This game dates back to 1900 when municipal lighting did not exist in rural Guatemala. In this way, players would have to soak the ball in kerosene and set it on fire so that it was visible at night.
The word scorpion comes from the singed or burned of the ball. This game was mostly dangerous for goalkeepers, however, this never stopped them from playing. Today, singers are played without referees, uniforms, prizes, or a ball in flames. It is simply a game of pride and tradition.
Unlike traditional football, singers are played between teams that can be mixed and composed by several players (four to seven) and a goalkeeper. The team that scores the most goals in the defined time before starting the game, wins.
6- Fines
Children in Guatemala play several games in their spare time, including Five. This is a game of marbles in which mainly men participate and requires two or more participants to execute.
The objective of the game is to hit the marbles of other players outside the playing area that is delimited by lines.
Each player can keep the marbles that he is able to remove from the playing area. To define who plays first, players draw a line on the floor called"mica", then throw a marble at a distance of six paces from the mica. He who has thrown his marble closer to the mica, plays first.
7- Rope
Jump rope is one of Guatemala's most traditional games and a good way to exercise. You need at least three people for this game, two that move the rope and one that jumps.
The game consists of jumping the number of times equivalent to the number of rounds, this way, if you are in round one, you jump once. The person who more often jumps without touching the rope, wins.
8- Sheets
The plates are the bottle caps. This game consists of decorating the covers and using them on tracks drawn on the floor.
Children should throw the veneers as far as possible and then run. The shifts to play are distributed according to the distance to which the
9 - Airplane
Avioncito is the name given to the traditional game of hopscotch in other regions of the continent. It is a game of Spanish tradition that consists of drawing on the ground a figure shaped like an airplane, divided into squares, where numbers 1 to 10 are also drawn.
The players must throw a square stone in square and advance by the airplane jumping, without touching the square where the stone was thrown.
10- Try
The game of temp is known in other countries as"carries it". This game is that someone"takes"and runs after the others to pass it. In this way, if the person who touches it touches another person, the person will take it and run to give it to someone else.
This game has a modality that consists of"electrizar"to who is touched, in this way, the person touched must remain quiet until it is touched again by a companion who is not electrified.
References
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- Peer, D. (2017). The Bump . Retrieved from Children's Games for Guatemalan Independence Day: living.thebump.com.
- PL, H. (November 12, 2015). Free Press . Retrieved from"Children's Games: prensalibre.com".
- Salamanca, D. Q. (2017). Don Quixote . Retrieved from"SPANISH GAMES FOR KIDS: donquijote.org.
- Sperry, A. (2017). Hey . Obtained from Traditional guatemalan games: ehow.com
- (August 6, 2013). Unbound Blog . Retrieved from Games children play in Guatemala: blog.unbound.org.
- (2011). What Latin America . Obtained from Guatemala Sports: whatlatinamerica.com.