Traditional Game for Male and Female

 

Lompat Tali

This is a very popular game which elementary school girls play at recess time. It is much like skipping rope however the rope that the girls use is made from hundreds of elastic bands that are looped together to form a large ring. The girls take turns trying to jump over the elastic rope which is held by two girls at each end.

The height of the rope normally starts low, such as at ankle height, and gradually moves higher up the bodies of the children after the jumpers have successfully jumped over the lower height. Experienced jumpers can often jump over ropes that are neck high! A good thing that comes from using a rope that is made from rubber bands, is that if a jumper is not successful in jumping over the rope, the rope will give and the jumper will not be hurt in her unsuccessful attempt. Thus, a lot of skinned knees are avoided.

 

Gangsing or Gasing

This game is normally played by boys. The gangsing is a top made from bamboo with a small opening on the side. This small hole makes the top whistle very distinctively as it spins. The size of the hole determines the pitch of the whistle. String is wound around the dowel that goes through the center of the gangsing . The child then holds onto the flat bamboo handle that is tied to the end of the string and pulls this handle to set the gangsing spinning. Normally a circle is drawn on the ground about 50 cm. in diameter. Two children play against each other. The object of the game is to try and knock your opponents gangsing out of the designated circle. Gangsing are commonly sold outside the temples and tourist attractions in Yogyakarta, Central Java

 

 

Layang-layang

Layang-layang or kite flying is a very popular pastime for Indonesian children. This game is mostly played by boys because it is played outdoors and in open places such as fields. Provinces throughout the country have their own designs. There are two distinct types of kites: the first is those that are just to be used for flying which have a tailed attached to them to balance the kite; and those that will be used for one-on-one dogfights, a favorite pastime amongst kite flyers. 

Fighting kites do not have tails attached to them. They are made from light bamboo and waxed paper. Often the string that is attached to these kites is coated with crushed glass. The string is dipped in a solution of crushed glass, which has been boiled with ka, chemicals and dye. The mixture acts as an adherent so the tiny particles of glass will cling to the string. The string is strung out on a small rack to let it dry. This process makes the string very sharp and capable of cutting the opponents string.

Ready-made glass coated string can also be bought in various thickness. . Most kite flyers opt to buy ready-made string as it is a long and messy process to prepare their own. The choice of the thickness of the string would depend the on the size of the kite, and a greater consideration, the budget of the buyer. If the owner is not careful this string can also cut his fingers as well!

The object of the game is to try and cut the opponents' kite loose. The way that the string is attached to the kite determines the control that the flyer has over his kite. If the two holding strings are attached far apart to the frame of the kite, this will make it heavier to hold on to when it is flying. However, this gives the kite flyer greater control over the movements of the kite.  If the two holding strings are attached closer together onto the frame of the kite, this makes the kite much lighter to hold on to but sacrifices control. These kites tend to be wilder in flight. 

Experienced kite flyers know that a taunt string is not as easy to cut as a slack string, so it is up to the skill of the kite flyer to use techniques of pulling and releasing the string to try and avoid having his kite cut free. If a kite is cut free by an opponent, the victor is the one that is still holding a kite. The loose kites are often the culprits of reckless chases. The child that gets to the loose kite first is considered the new owner of the kite

 

 

My opinion about traditional game

Back when I was a kid traditional games were very popular with children, I usually played them together with other children around my house, examples of these traditional games are for example marbles, gangsing, jumping rope, kites and many more, usually there are different games played by both men and women, men tend to play active and outdoor games such as playing kites and gangsing and girls tend to like games that can be played anywhere such as jumping rope, congklak, or bekel ball, all games are played according to the tastes of each children, when I was child I  used to be very happy to play that because I could interact with other children and did not feel bored because there was a lot of jokes and laughter and that is good for children's personality and psychomotor development, but nowadays this traditional game is starting to be displaced by modern games, like games on smartphones, playstation, online games and others, and now I see that every children are rarely playing traditional games anymore, they are busy with their respective gadgets at home. Of course this can have a bad impact on children's development, they should be able to feel closeness and jokes with friends around them, and I hope that with the increasing popularity of modern games we don't forget the traditional games that are characteristic of the nation, we can re-popularize traditional games for Indonesian