Playing through generations

Abstract

The act of playing expresses our spontaneous culture, our roots, and our customs. It innovates and retains our history. In this article, we seek to follow the intertwined history of playing and customs of our families along generations. We will also try to tell a little about the richness and creativity of this play over the times, at different moments and locations, such as in our Brazilian endless beaches, farms, and streets and in our grandmother’s big old houses with their basements, many rooms, and their gardens with plenty of fruit trees and their festive and religious rituals which gathered the grandchildren and became the opportunity for playing. We also intend to recall a little of the games and stories we have heard from people who worked in our homes, cooking or helping us with the children, and with whom we learned so much.