Attracting children to participate in folk games

Children's entertainment activities, over time, gradually change due to the development of society, lifestyle, activities, dense study schedule... many folk games are gradually lost, instead, children find fun through TV or online games on the internet. Therefore, organizing and attracting children to participate in folk games is necessary to give them a true childhood, to cultivate their souls, love, and promote folk cultural values.

Sack jumping competition at the 2023 Folk Games Festival

In the past, after stressful study hours, children's recreational activities were games: playing shuttlecock, marbles, hopscotch, blindfolded goat catching, finding needles, jumping rope, hide and seek, etc. The "prize" to determine victory/defeat was just a flick of the ear, the losing team had to carry the winning team around or the punishment of smearing pot black on their face..., simple, rustic but left many unforgettable impressions of a childhood. The games always attracted children because of their healthiness, suitable movement, high collective spirit, community solidarity, even though there were fierce conflicts, when divided into the same team, they were all highly determined for the common achievement, so the conflicts were gradually resolved... Nowadays, outside of class time, many children are "stuck" with a dense extra-curricular schedule, besides, many parents do not dare to let their children go out to avoid the negative impact of social evils. Therefore, after school hours, children only know how to entertain themselves through TV programs or many children are addicted to online games, which negatively affect their psychology, physiology and health, thereby losing their opportunity to experience reality, limiting their ability and communication skills, many children are even naive, being judged as "like industrial chickens".

In 2022, the initiative of the Hung Dao Secondary School Union (Tien Lu) with the model of "Folk playground" with games such as: O an quan, o an quan, skipping rope... organized right in the school yard attracted a large number of students to participate, helping to relieve stress between classes. The model has promoted positive effects and has now been gradually replicated in many schools in the province. To continue attracting children to play and entertain with folk games, recently, the Provincial Children's House coordinated with the Department of Education and Training (GD&DT) of Hung Yen city to organize the 2023 Folk Games Festival, attracting over 200 students from schools in the city to compete in games: O an quan; tug of war; blindfolded drumming; sack jumping; walking on the bridge. Comrade Pham Thi Thanh Hoa, Deputy Head of the Department of Education and Training of Hung Yen City, said that recently, the Department of Education and Training of the city has directed and guided the promotion of bringing folk games into schools, because this is a useful and meaningful activity. Participating in folk games, students develop both their intelligence and physical strength; help them see the beauty and cultural traditions of their nation, arouse their spirit of solidarity; guide them to have healthy entertainment, stay away from social evils as well as change their entertainment habits, stay away from phones and tablets, limit the negative impacts of online games on the internet.

Nguyen Khanh Linh, class 7C, Nguyen Quoc An Secondary School ( Hung Yen city) excitedly said, "I really like physical games, so I usually play badminton or go walking every day. Now that I have the chance to participate in the festival, I have learned more and played many other games. After this festival, I will definitely guide and invite my friends to play together." Having just finished competing in the game of o an quan, Nguyen Thanh Hung, class 7B, Lam Son Secondary School (Hung Yen city) shared: The festival of folk games brings us many useful things, helps us learn more games, and get to know more friends from other schools. I like to play o an quan because the game is tactical, requiring players to have calculations, thereby helping to train sharp thinking.

Comrade Quach Van Hieu, Director of the Provincial Children's House, said that with the desire to create useful playgrounds for children, helping them stay away from negative impacts from society as well as fostering traditional cultural values, the Provincial Children's House coordinated to organize the 2023 Folk Games Festival in Hung Yen city. Although this is the first time it has been organized, it has attracted a large number of students from primary to secondary school in the city to enthusiastically participate. From the positive results of this festival, in the coming time, the Provincial Children's House plans to coordinate to organize clusters of districts, towns, cities and aim to organize a festival for the whole province. From there, it will arouse and revive folk games to create a healthy playground for children, nurture their souls, and contribute to preserving and promoting traditional cultural values.

Duc Hung

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