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As soon as the “china” (marbles) game ended, I asked the boys why it is that adults today insist on saying that children don’t know how to play anymore and that games like this no longer exist. “It’s because these adults don’t come here to see,” one of the boys replied.

This is true, I had to agree. It’s important to see up close what children are doing before expressing our beliefs about the extinction of games. We believe in things without giving ourselves a chance to look at the facts.

Only those who don’t want to see fail to notice children playing in Araçuaí. In fact, this is not limited to Araçuaí. Wherever there are children in Brazil, whether it is a rural, coastal, or urban area, it is possible to see a variety of games.

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In the neighborhood of Arraial, in Araçuaí, the games hide themselves from the sun, under the shade of mango or tamarind trees. Games of china, miniature billiards, hopscotch, blind man’s bluff, leap frog, house… and so many others we will never know, since games aren’t made to be shown or presented, but to be played, lived, and the only ones who will learn them are those who sit on the ground to play along.

“Emerson is a pro, he lives with ‘chinas’ in his pockets. Just yesterday he took his ‘chinas’ to church,” disclosed Ricardo. Emerson is one of those boys in Araçuaí that takes play with them wherever they go. Just as he plays with marbles, he also dedicates his time to the Three Kings’ Festival group in the Arraial neighborhood, and to building toys out of wood he finds in his neighbors’ houses. According to Emerson, “every child could make their own toys, but you never will if you don’t try.”

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“And what about this rumor they’ve been spreading that children don’t play anymore?” I ask. Once again, I get the same answer: “the adults haven’t had time to stop and look, so they go around saying things they don’t know.”

So, follow the advice of the children of Araçuaí: let us stop long enough to see the games children are playing.

Text and photos: Renata Meirelles

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