Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers

Abstract

With the development of technology, traditional games which had an essential place in the lives of children began to lose their importance and were replaced by computer games. An examination of developed countries shows that their unique traditional games are being protected and, thanks to conscious families are nurtured by national values; thus, they serve an extremely important function in terms of shaping national conscience. The value of traditional children�"s games can be better understood considering the possibility that especially pre-school children can be affected by the artificial and virtual culture imposed by technological devices. Pre-school period is a period when value education in children begins. Information on values is gained at every stage of life. However, the earliest information is acquired through traditional games in the period when personality begins to develop. In this study, 25 children were presented with Cypriot Turkish children�"s games such as hide-and-seek, house, blind man�"s buff, dodge ball and duck duck goose. Then children were urged to play these games and observations were made which was followed by interviews with children to obtain their opinions on games and game processes. In the study, it was seen that children acquired several values required by social life such as respect, courtesy, helping each other, courage, love, protection, honesty, forgiveness, respect for the environment, patience, and obeying rules.