Ideal games for summer days

A look at a few simple, yesteryear games that need no power, internet or high end videos and still manage to keep the players engaged while giving them good physical exercise Lata Jain For those who live in the four-season parts of the globe, the few balmy months are the time of sunny fun and outdoor games. At least it was with our generation, but today's youth have so many electronic gadgets at their fingertips that getting them outside and moving can be a challenge. However, there are scores of games that the older generation played at home and had fun. Here are a few games you can try out and experience the joy of simple games of yesteryears.

Skipping Skipping was very popular among the girls and rhymes were often repeated continually to the number of skips heads. While grandma use to do the counting, girls played it for fun but they never realised it use to tone the body. Skipping was recognised as a game for girls but boys were equally good at it. This game was played by one or three girls. Skipping is a good cardiovascular workout and can achieve a burn rate of up to 700 calories per hour of vigorous activity, with about 0.1 calories consumed per jump.

Lattu Spinning top or lattu was once the most popular street game of India's he game involves spinning a lattu (top). Every youngster is familiar with this. The bey blades of today is nothing but an improvisation of the good old top. The game is known to improve concentration and eyesight. Gilli danda This is a traditional game played in most villages of India. It is similar to cricket and allows any number of players or teams to play it. Two wooden sticks is all that one needs. The game is played with a gilli or guli and danda, which are both wooden sticks. The danda is longer can be swung easily by the player. The gilli is smaller and conical in shape. The gilli is similar to a cricket ball and the danda to a cricket bat. This game enhances hand and eye co-ordination.

Marbles or kancha Marbles are a billiards-like game played with marbles on a board. The object is to knock your opponent's marbles off the board in a series of games. The more marbles you manage to garner, the richer you are! Marbles come for as cheap as Rs 1 per marble now. The game increases focus and improves eyesight. Lingochaar/Seven Stones: It is played by two teams in any flat ground. A member of one team throws a soft ball at a pile of stones to knock them over. Then the seekers try to restore the pile of stones while the opposing team throws the ball at them. If the ball touches a seeker, he is out and his team continues without him. But a team member can always safeguard himself by touching the opposite team member before the ball hits him.