The Da Nang Department of Education and Training has launched its first-ever campaign to encourage local schools to organise exciting traditional folk games for their pupils during the upcoming summer school holiday.

Phan Chau Trinh Senior High School pupils playing hide-and-seek

Teacher Mac Nhu Phuc, who is taking charge of the operation of the Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneer Organisation of the Hoa Nhon 1 Primary School, remarked that his school usually organises such traditional folk games as pouring water into the bottle, tug-of-war, bag jumping, and ‘O an quan’ (mandarin square capturing). These games attract a great deal of attention from both school pupils and their teachers.

Teacher Phuc highlighted the importance of organising folk games at schools for their pupils during academic years and school holidays in order to help pupils enhance their talents and improve their physical health.

Teacher  Nguyen Hong Quang, who is taking charge of the operation of the Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneer Organisation of the Dien Hong Primary School, noted that many interesting activities have been organised in his school, including reading books, camping trips, and other entertainment activities. He added that his school would join forces with local Youth Union cardes to introduce traditional folk games into their extracurricular activities.

Over recent years, many schools have organised folk games for their pupils in their festivals because the current break times are too short for them to participate in many exciting games, except for tug-of-war, hopscotch, and hide-and-seek.   

Mr Nguyen Nguyen Long, Director of the Con Rong Chau Tien Life Skills Education Centre who is folk game trainer for school teachers, said that over 100 folk games would be introduced to schools during the upcoming school holiday. The selection of folk games will depend on the space of schools. In particular, such games as skipping ropes and leap-frog will be organised in schools in Hoa Vang District due to their spacious playgrounds. Meanwhile, schools in Hai Chau and Thanh Khe districts will be introduced to ‘o an quan’ (mandarin square capturing), bag jumping and tug-of-war.

The Department’s Director Nguyen Dinh Vinh said that the purpose of the organisation of folk games in schools is to help pupils enhance their mental and physical health, and avoid unhealthy games, as well as preserve the national cultural identities.