A9-Top 10 Common Traditional Games of Europe

1. Games BulgariaGames Bulgaria

2. Question 1: Where did you play games mostly in
your childhood?
Въпрос 1: Къде играехте най-често в своето
детство
a - on the playground/на игрището 2
b - on the street/на улицата 50
c - at home/вкъщи 12
d - other/друго 0
Total 64

3. Question 2: Who did you play with mostly in your
childhood?
Въпрос 2: С кого играехте най-често в своето
детство
a - Friends in same
neighbourhood/приятели от квартала 50
b - Children of the relatives/деца на
роднини 6
c - My own sister(s) and brother(s)/с брат
или сестра 8
d - other/друго 0
Total 64

4. Question 3: What were most popular 3 outdoor games in your
childhood?
Въпрос 3: Кои са трите най-популярни игри на открито на
Вашето детство
Hide and seek/Криеница 46
Dodgeball/Народна топка 38
Tag/Гоненица 16
Dama/Дама 14
Rope skipping/Скачане на въже 12
Jumping over elastic band/Ластик 10
Football/Футбол 6
Gendarmes and thieves/Стражари и апаши 4
Blind Granny/Сляпа баба 4
Tip-Cat/Челик 3

5. Question 4: What were most popular 3 indoor games in your
childhood?
Въпрос 4: Кои са трите най-популярни игри на закрито на
Вашето детство
Man, don't get annoyedбНе се сърди човече 27
Puppets/Кукли 25
Black Peter/Черен Петър 15
Dominoes/Домино 8
Nine Men's morris/Дама 8
Drawing/Рисуване 6
Cities/Градове 7
Immitation games/Подражателни игри 5
Chess/Шах 5
Kralyu Portalyu/Кралю Порталю 4

6. Question 5: How did you get toys in your childhood?
Въпрос 5: Как получавахте играчките си в своето
детство
a - Parents and grandparents bought the
toys/родителите, бабите и дядовците ги
купуваха 32
b - We used to create our own toys/правехме свои
собствени играчки 31
c - I did not have any toys in my childhood/не съм
имал играчки в детството си 1
Total 64

7. Криеница Hide and seek
Народна топка Dodgeball/People’s ball
Гоненица Tag
Дама Dama
Скачане на въже Rope skipping
Ластик Jumping over elastic band
Футбол Football
Стражари и апаши Gendarmes and thieves
Сляпа баба Blind Granny
Челик Chelik/Tip-Cat
Не се сърди човече Man, don't get annoyed
Кукли Puppets
Черен Петър Black Peter
Домино Dominoes
Дама Nine Men's morris
Рисуване Drawing
Градове Cities
Подражателни игри Immitation games
Шах Chess
Кралю порталю Kralyu Portalyu

8. Dodgeball
Dodgeball was originally played in
Africa over two hundred years ago,
but instead of the fun, jocular game
that it is today, it was in fact a
deadly game. Instead of using soft,
rubber balls, the game was actually
played with large rocks or putrefied
matter, and it was used as an
intense work out for the tribes,
where each competitor would
attempt to hit their opponent with
the rock to injury or incapacitate
them. Once a player was hit, they
would attempt to be pelted by
further rocks to finish them off. It
would be the responsibility of the
team mates of the fallen competitor
to try and defend him and force the
attackers off with their own rocks.
This would said to be a great way to
encourage the tribesman to work
together during skirmishes against
other tribes, working to take out the
weak and protect their own.

9. Rope skipping
'Jumping a rope' has been practiced for centuries around the whole world.
The first skilled rope makers emerged from early China and a game called Hundred Rope Jumping was one of the
favourite sports during the Chinese New Year Festival. Rope was used for skipping in Phoenicia, and ancient Egypt.
The Greeks jumped a pole in the early days of the Western civilization, and several painters in the Golden Ages
painted children playing with a rope.
Rope Skipping (or Jump Rope) originated in the Netherlands from where it has probably been imported to
Bulgaria.

10. Football

11. Blind Granny
As this is a very simple game that does not need special skills
or preparation, no historical evidence is to be found about it.
It may have emerged long ago or not. It is a game that is
played by children all across Europe.

12. Chelik/Tip-cat
The game dates back to the 17th
century and in the 19th
century became very popular in Great
Britain. It may be assumed that it was brought to Bulgaria by the English missionaries in the late
19th
century.

13. Man, don't get annoyed
The game was invented by Josef Friedrich Schmidt, an
employee of the city of Munich who had three bored
children to entertain at home. He devised the game with
dice and counters and played it happily with an ever-
widening circle, including his neighbours' children.
After a couple of years of this amateur fun, he decided to
put it on the market. It only took off during World War
One.
Schmidt had the very bright idea of making hundreds of
copies of the game and giving them to hospitals used by
the war-wounded. Sales haven't slowed down in the
succeeding century.

14. Puppets
Playing with puppets is maybe as
old as the world. The imitation of
the mother by the girl is a form of
up-bringing so this game originates
from the earliest societies of
mankind.

15. Dominoes
The oldest confirmed written mention of dominoes in
China comes from the Former Events in Wulin (i.e. the
capital Hangzhou) written by the Yuan Dynasty (1271–
1368) author Zhou Mi (1232–1298), who listed pupai
(gambling plaques or dominoes), as well as dice as items
sold by peddlers during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of
Song (r. 1162–1189). Andrew Lo asserts that Zhou Mi
meant dominoes when referring to pupai, since the Ming
author Lu Rong(1436–1494) explicitly defined pupai as
dominoes. The game was popular in the Ottoman Empire
and was brought to Bulgaria by the merchants who
travelled cross the empire.

16. Nine Men's morris
The earliest known board for the game includes
diagonal lines and was "cut into the roofing slabs of
the temple at Kurna in Egypt" c. 1400 BCE. One of the
earliest mentions of the game may be in Ovid's Ars
Amatoria. The game was probably well known by the
Romans, as there are many boards on Roman
buildings, even though dating them is impossible
because the buildings have been easily accessible since
they were built. It is possible that the Romans were
introduced to the game via trade routes, but this cannot
be proven.

17. Kralyu Portalyu To be more fun it is appropriate to have at least 6-7
children. Two stand against each other, grab their
hands and raise them, making a "gate" to each
other. The other children pass one after another
through the "gate" while singing the song "My king-
Portalyu, open gates that will let the royal army go.
Open, close, only one leave. Spoon, bowl, pan, trap”.
As they spell "Scoop, dish pan, trap 'hands go up
and down. Whosoever falls into "the trap" finally
must choose which team to go with. This is repeated
until all children are allocated. Then the two teams
line up one behind the other and begin to pull each
other. The winner is the team that manages to pull
the other and knock the players to the ground.