Adults lament fading popularity of traditional games

AMMAN — Gathered in small groups around the well-lit hall, adults were children again, playing the simple games they used to enjoy when they were young and carefree.

Suhair Abu Rashed, a mother of four, was playing hopscotch with other mothers and fathers at the Hangar in Ras Al Ain on Saturday evening, reminiscing about "the good old days" when children enjoyed simple games that they made with their own hands.

"Modernity has had a negative impact on these games. My child used to tell me that we are not civilised enough because we do not have an iPad," Abu Rashed told The Jordan Times.  

Saturday's event was organised by the Spirit of Jordan volunteer organisation with the aim of restoring the link between people and old games. 

"I noticed that people have lost their bond with their neighbourhoods. In the past, we used to go out and play games like hopscotch, hide and seek, and marbles with our neighbours," Sanad Abu Assaf, founder of Spirit of Jordan, told The Jordan Times. 

"We used to organise activities where children would teach us how to make kites and toy cars out of wires. After we noticed that a great number of participants liked these ideas, we decided to hold one event that includes the most popular games people used to play in the past."

The event was also held to promote other initiatives in Jordan that work with the Spirit of Jordan, according to Abu Assaf. 

"These initiatives had the chance to showcase their ideas and activities by using the games that were included in the programme," he said, adding that around 17 initiatives took part in the event, with each project team utilising games to highlight their ideas.

Abu Assaf said the concept of children going out to the "hara" (neighbourhood) to play with their neighbours is fading away.

Instead of going out to play, children are now staying indoors to play video games on smartphones, tablet computers and game consoles like Playstation 4 and Xbox One, he added.

Abu Assaf said he is not opposed to video games, but it is also important that children and people in general keep playing these old games because they encourage them to think and move. 

Irbid resident Mohammad Ababneh, who participated in Saturday's event, said inhabitants of the governorates are still attached to these old games because modern games are not that popular outside Amman. 

"These video games are not affordable for everyone outside the capital," he said.  

But Abu Rashed said she had doubts about the popularity of traditional games.

"Every time has its own games. Now, it is the time of modernity and its fancy video games."