Children's Folklore - the Games Collection

Children's Folklore claims to be the "First multicultural and multilingual anthology published on the web by children, parents and teachers from around the world. This project is the networking result of 108 schools from 61 countries. Read descriptions of games traditionally played by children around the world, their rhymes and customs as well."

The games are indexed by country, written by whomever wishes to contribute, not edited, sometimes not in English, but the project gives powerful testimony to the universality of play and games.

The collectors explain:

"The traditional games, often accompanied by formulas or counting out rhymes, are orally transmitted from child to child, varying from culture to culture; children express their joy to play simulating the social life typical to adults as they wish to imitate them.

"Music, poetry and game follow childhood, the earliest age of the man. The children's folklore maintains elements, even since mankind's childhood. It preceded the appearance of spoken languages and musical language. The game is a way to communicate and the cultural exchanges make children closer one from another. Children's folklore is a syncretistic phenomenon because it combines the rhymes, the tune, the gesture, the movement and the playing act. It has collective character and it contains universal elements, commonly used by the children around the world.

"We are looking forward to receiving short description of any game or custom, counting out rhymes, artworks or photographs."