Games Children Played in the 1950s and 1960s:
Besides the physical aspects, different kinds of games have more social and mental development values. Children who play group games learn to share and negotiate as well as develop the ability to solve non individual problems.
We will explore types of games young people played in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia and other parts of the world during the 1950s and 1960s. First of all as was common, young people played games outside of the house. This is one example of a game called a whip and top played in the past. In Debre Zeit, similar game of spinning was played by young people. Instead of rounded wooden top and using a whip to spin it, a Eucalyptuses seed cone with protruding edge (looks like half a breast with nipple) and spun by hand on the ground. (Source: Childhood Playground Games of the Early 1950s – WeHaveKids)
In Debre Zeit, there were several types of games that children played. We only selected more common and games that were played by more students. There were other popular games that like skipping rope, Segno Maksegno or “Monday Tuesday” which is a variant of hopscotch (Source: Segno Maksegno & 12 Other Interesting Traditional Ethiopian Games and Sports • Chick About Town), and Kilibosh (source: 10 of the Best Ethiopian Traditional Sports and Games — allaboutETHIO) that were not full described.
Although they were played elsewhere, the games we described have a more localized variation. We mainly focused on the following games:
Football (Soccer)
Button
Marble
Birr (Dollar)
Dime and Nicle