Remembering the games played back home

[dawoco]

While growing up we used to have lots of games, not board games like monopoly and so on. But games that were innovative in their own ways, and educational. The games I’m talking would seem basic compared to the games we see in toyshops and the ones Somali children living abroad nowadays play with. But somehow these “advanced†games aren’t as educational and beneficial to the children as the ones we used to play back home.

 

I thought we could compile a list of games in this thread, in English, giving the Somali name of the game and its rules. Basically a step by step “demonstration-like†explanation of how the game is played, and the lessons it teaches the children.

 

If we get enough people participating in this game, we will have a list big enough to function as a preservation of Somali games, so that those of us with children, nieces and nephews and younger siblings can try it at home.

 

I want to start this topic with a game called Ciyaar bilaaw (exact translation would be “game, startâ€). It is a game that requires nothing more than 3 players or more. Now, before the game starts each player picks a number, if there are 3 players a number between 1 and 15, and so on. Each player plays with one hand, and can produce a number between 0 and 5, with the fist functioning as 0.

 

I know it sounds a bit confusing and strange but those are the rules. Once the game starts all players sit in a circle creating an open space in the middle. That space functions as the game board basically.

 

Let’s say 3 people are playing the game, they pick the numbers 5, 7 and 12. They start the game by holding their hands near their ears and saying “ciyaar bilaawâ€. When they say bilaaw, each player puts a number of fingers down on the space within the circle. Or a fist if they want to produce a zero. The objective of each player is the count of every1’s fingers to produce the number s/he has picked.

 

In the case of the three players, let’s say one puts down 2 fingers, another 4 and the last 1 finger. The total would be 7 points, and the person that has chosen number 7 wins that round of the game. The losers have to put their hands together and hold it out for the winner to hit them with one hand, in turn. They have to hold their outstretched hands straight and have to miss being hit at the last moment. The winner, in turn has to try and break their concentration so that s/he can actually catch their out held hands before they withdraw it. S/he can do this by speaking to them and teasing them and so on. Every time the winner touches the loser’s hands, s/he can have another attempt at hitting them. As soon as the winner misses hitting all her opponents the game is resumed. And each opponent has to second guess what the other players will put down as points and try to manipulate the game so their number comes up. If number that nobody has chosen comes up, the players repeat the process until some1 wins the round.

 

This is a social game, and not as “savage†as it may seem. The hitting on the outstretched hands is not violent and painful, and an adult should play with the children to supervise them. This game teaches the basic maths to children, as each has to count how much fingers is put down in the middle, otherwise they won’t know if their number has come down. Also, it teaches the children about quick reflexes. If they lose they have to be quick to avoid being slapped on the hands, and the winner has 2 be equally quick to manage hitting them. And lastly, this game is all about egging on your opponents and teasing one another, which teaches the children all about being in a group and interacting with one another in a competitive and yet friendly atmosphere.

 

I hope my explanations aren’t confusing, the game isn’t complicated at all, but explaining it in words and not action is very hard.

 

Does anyone else have other games they would like to share with us?

[LayZie G.]

I don't know waxa aad kahadleyso fox, too early and too long of a post.

[dawoco]

Lazy, thats cos u r a laaysiyad dhib badan Now go get a strong cup of coffee with 4 spoons of sugar and come back to the topic:p

[LayZie G.]

hahahah, I am tea person fox, just had me a large cup of earl grey tea, getting back to the topic.

 

I don't recall what I had for dinner lastnight, much less remember the sort of games I had taken part in my childhood yrs.

[Warrior of Light]

Dawoco, great topic. Atleast for some of us we can learn these games, never 2 late;)

[Juxa]

lil bahaleeey, u just want to beat the sh!t out of me innit walee gacan kuma soo taago.

 

now this is very interesting indeed, i did not know u had in you(explaining) bt let me come bck with my fav game, called duq-reeb which means lose-the-oldie . it is a card-game . if anyone of you know same game, go on and explain.

 

ps, cidaan qamaartooy waaye ma is dhahdeen

[Intel]

there was this game that we used to play in every GU season during the school holidays when we go to miyi, called LAAL

 

it was something like this

we select one of us as the ref, we then find a flat grassy area with bushes/trees near,

next the ref draws a circle on the ground….roughly 15 X 15 metres,

everybody gets inside the circle and lays there facing down with eyes closed apart from the ref who stands in the center of the circle and s/he chucks a ball (if we have one) alternatively a shoe as far as s/he could and then say to everybody go and look for it, whoever finds it must yell out waatan (its here) and then sprint back to the circle, everyone else’s job is to tackle the person with the ball/shoe b4 s/he gets inside the circle.

 

a combination of baseball, rugby and bit of a hide’n’seek.

 

I was very good at it, had a tremendous speed and fully-sick side-step