Growing up in the 90s in Zimbabwe children had to find alternative means of entertainment. Today the youth have so much at their disposal, TV the whole day with different channels, internet, toys, and play stations.
Unfortunately with this boom of entertainment at their disposal, todays youth are not required to be creative and resourceful and tend to have less friends because of staying indoors so much.
We had to improvise for toys, using bricks as cars and making wire cars. My main focus today will not be on the the toys but on the games that we played back then.
Most games were very interactive and always depended on having a group of more than 5 people hence were good for building social skills and interaction. We managed to keep ourselves very entertained.
And it was good unadultered entertainment with no age restrictions and parental guidance advisory statements. Most people of this era would agree with me when I say we had it good while growing up and the current youth will not enjoy their youth as much as we did. Some may not agree with.
The majority of the games were ball games and these balls were made by skilled craftsmen who were known to make these balls from wrapped plastics (Recylcling!? we were green way before it became a fad!).
Most of these games made use of available props and recycled materials so there was rarely any wastage. It was sustainable entertainment! The main plastic being a 5kg or Red Seal Roller meal or Ngwerewere, then sometimes it would have a net of plastics to make it really compact so it could bounce.
There are lots more games that kept us entertained and out of trouble though some actually got us into more trouble. Some of these games we played together with girls. These games may also be known by a different name and there maybe various methods of playing the games.
Other games
Games we also played included; Hwishu, Hwai Hwai, Fish Fish, Nhodo, One Touch, Dhudhudza, Raka Raka, Dhiritsa, Matsva, Chisveru, Deya, Chihwande hwande, Chabuta, Stechu, Hondo yemaKinha, Tauya Kunoona Mary, Country Game and Pada
As this is a work in progress it will continue to be updated. If you have other descriptions and games please post them via the feedback page.
