All play & no work!

In a time when most children are glued to their screens, it is refreshing to revisit yesteryear games that kept young minds busy for hours.

The play not only had entertainment value but also offered scope to think creatively, thus providing endless opportunities to stretch the imagination. GulfWeekly explores some of the games, talking to Bahrain-based artists whose striking creations are immortalising these golden memories.

Teela (‘marbles’)

Growing up, these small spheres were a prized possession for many, and safeguarding them was serious business. While many variations of the game exist, a popular style entailed striking a set of marbles in a circle drawn on the ground with a bigger marble. Those with the most displaced marbles won – bagged the loot!

“I remember playing teela and was very good at it,” Saudi graphic designer and resident artist at The Art Station Karim Al Janobi, who has been living in Bahrain for the last 15 years, told GulfWeekly.

The 46-year-old Adliya resident’s sculptures depicting ‘lost’ childhood games are currently being exhibited at the venue in Muharraq.

The interactive Nostalgia Project employs digital design and 3D printing, where each exhibit has an NFC tag, which, when scanned, displays contextual information and plays authentic audio recordings of children playing at that moment.

Dawama (‘spinning top’)

The humble spinning tops provided scope to improve motor skills, hand strength and concentration. Children would wrap a string around the nib-like bottom and then spin it with a force, keeping the top in momentum.

“Dawama is my favourite as it holds so much energy even in stillness. I sculpted it mid-spin, with the fabric of a traditional outfit caught in motion to give it life and momentum,” Karim said.

Bahraini artist Mahdi Albannai also has fond memories of the game, which he has brought alive in his bronze sculpture series, which was on display at InterContinental Bahrain during Ramadan.

“Ï had professional friends who were good at the game, we even had our own rules in which the loser would have his spinner broken by the winner, and he would break it with his own spinner,” the 62-year-old noted, adding that the sculptures represent his years growing up in Ras Rumman.

Fallatiya (‘slingshot’)

The mechanism of this game was simple, with a rubber band tied to a twig, stretched far back to launch a stone that was aimed at one’s target.

“My friends would aim at birds, but I personally did not like to do that because it was too violent and would ask them, ‘how about we shoot at geckos instead’,” Mahdi revealed.

Both artists believe that screen time has encroached upon childhood and, through their sculptures, hope to revive play as a form of entertainment among young minds.

“I was inspired to bring alive my own memories as well as introduce it to the younger generations that did not grow up with these games that we played,” Mahdi said. For his part, Karim realised how many traditional childhood games have quietly disappeared.

“I wanted to not just document them, but bring them back to life in a form that could be touched, heard, and experienced.”

Dharoj (‘roller’)

Hoop rolling or trundling encompasses rolling a large hoop along the ground using an object wielded by the player. “I have fond memories of playing Dharoi (Dharoj in a different dialect) using an old bicycle wheel. We used to make toys out of whatever we could find, fabric scraps, buttons, sticks. There was so much creativity and joy in that simplicity,” Karim reminisced.

To give his pieces a realistic look, the self-taught artist spent time with a local tailor where he learned how fabrics behave and he recreated the patterns digitally. Karim widened his research by speaking to his parents and other community elders to shortlist the games for his sculptures.

“Nowadays the kids are mostly glued to their phones, and would be making friends with people from all over the world, while all we had was our neighbours to play with and we relied more on items around us that we were able to turn into games,” Mahdi said.

To learn about more traditional games and their sculptures, follow @karimaljanobi and @mahdialbannai on Instagram.