Photo by Josh Eli Cogan, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution
"Children are the bright moon." —Kenyan proverb
Games in Kenya are passed down through oral tradition, taking new forms with each generation. Because in most regions the weather is warm year round, Kenyan children like to play outdoors—football (soccer), rhyming games such as nyama-nyama-nyama, or a board game using marbles called kigogo, or mancala. They enjoy singing, dancing, and crafting items from hats to baskets. Kenyan children, like their counterparts all over the globe, enjoy having fun when and wherever they can.
From the Festival
Visitors to the Tuchezeni—Let’s Play! tent learn to play mancala, a popular game in Kenya.
Photo by Rachel Winslow, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution
Students from the Elimu Tutoring and Training Center, a summer camp that serves the Kenyan community in Baltimore, Maryland, play a Kenyan game in the Tuchezeni – Let’s Play! area of the program.
Photo by Francisco Guerra, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution
Using recycled plastic bottles, some soil, and seedlings, young visitors to the Tuchezeni – Let’s Play! tent make planters to take home.
Photo by Rachel Winslow, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution
