Timeline
Kst Limassol School Cyprus
May, 2014
STROVILOS / SVOURA
(WHIRLIGIG)
A round object with a pointy
end made from clay or iron.
The children used to play
with it by spinning it either
with the hand or by pulling
the end of a rope rapped
around it.
PLATAGI / KOUDOUNISTRA
(RATTLE)
A rattle made of clay with
stones inside that they used
to put in the infants hand
and with the sound it made
the infant focused on it,
forgot it self and stopped
crying.
ATHIRMA / ALOGAKI ME RODES
(TOY HORSE ON WHEELS)
One of the favorite toys of
the boys was a clay or
wooden horse on wheels
that they attached to a rope
and dragged all around.
GIO-GIO / GIO-GIO
(YOYO)
A cylindrical object with hollow
center on which they wrapped
the one end of a thread many
times. They battened the other
end of the thread on their fingers
and let the yoyo fall and before it
touched the ground they pulled it
back up and it wrapped again
and so on...
SKAPERDA / DIELKISTINDA
(TUG OF WAR)
The players pinned a wooden pole with a whole, in the ground.
Through the whole they crossed a rope. One player at each end tided
himself the rope with his back to the other. Then they tried to pull each
other as close to the pole. Another variant of the game was without the
pole, only the rope. Two teams with equal number in players pulled
each end of the rope. Each team was facing the other. The winning
team was the one that pulled the other over a line they put to the
ground before they begun playing.
ASTRAGALIZIN / MONA-ZIGA
(ODD OR EVEN)/Jackstone
A game played with the ankle
bones of goats or sheeps. In lack
of such they used stones or
wallnuts or almonds. One child hid
in its hands some and asked the
other child “odd or even?”. The
second child answerd and if he got
it right he won the bones or nuts, if
not the other child kept them.
PLAGGONES / KOUKLES
(DOLLS)
Dolls made from different kind of
materials. The girls in ancient
Greece never parted with them.
They had different names according
to their style or material. Those
made of clay or wax were called
“brights” and “daughters”. Those
moved with strings were called
“puppets”.
EORA / KOUNIA
(SWING)
The very known game of
swing that until this present
day children, of all ages, all
over the world play and enjoy
at home or parks etc. It goes
back to the Classic Greek
period from 480 B.C.
KRIKILASIA / TSERKI
(HOOPS)
Game played with a ring
wheel, (hoop) they pushed
with a stick. The one that
run the longest distance
with his hoop was the
winner.
h
ZATRIKIO / SKAKI
(CHESS)
The known to everyone game
of chess is an ancient greek
invention that dates back to 490
B. C. A game played on a board
with figures that had specific
movements. In ancient Greece
the also used dice. In
Byzantium times the game had
17 variations.
Apodidraskinda / Hosto
(Hide-and-seek)
It is the most popular children’s game at
Cyprus. One player closes his or her eyes for
a brief period (often counting to 100) while
the other players hide. The seeker then opens
his eyes and tries to find the hiders. The first
one found is the next seeker, and the last is
the winner of the round. The hiders try to
run back to “home base” while the seeker is
away looking for them. If all of the hiders
return safely, the seeker repeats as seeker in
the next round.
Hide-and-seek appears to be equivalent to the
game apodidraskinda, described by the 2ndcentury Greek writer Julius Pollux. In
modern Cyprus hide-and-seek is called
Hosto .