Traditional Maltese Games

During lessons of Maltese, students looked back and saw how their parents and grand-parents used to play. Especially with so many technological equipment in their hands, very often the younger generation fails to realise that the most simple of games can be fun too. Hereunder, some students present to you a few traditional Maltese games. They wrote in Maltese and therefore it might be interesting for you to see the written Maltese language.  The photos and English captions will help you understand how they were played.

Il-Borża

"Il-Ħamis it-2 ta’ Mejju morna ħarġa ġor-Rabat. Meta konna hemm morna ir-‘’Roman Domus’’, l-katakombi ta’ San Pawl u l-ġnien publikku ħdejn id-dħul ta’ l-Imdina fejn lagħbna logħob antik Malti.  Il-logħba li kont ħadt mieghi jien hi l-borża. Il-logħba ‘BORŻA’ kienet tintlagħb l-aktar           fiż-żmien San Martin u L-Millied għax f’dak  iż-żmien kienu jimpurtaw il-qastan , ġelewż  u l-lewż. Xi ħadd kien jkollu borża taċ-ċarruta li kien ikun fiha il-lewż jew xi ħaġa oħra u jorbot il-borża ma’ biċċa ħabel irqiqa. It-tfal kienu joqogħdu dawra tond madwar it-tifel jew it-tifla li se jdawwar           il-borża mimlija bil-lewż. Dak li qed idawwar il-borża għandu jżomm il-borża fil-baxx ħalli ma tkunx daqshekk diffiċli għal dawk li għandhom jaqbżu. Ma’ min taħbat joħrog mill-logħba u jirbaħ l-aħħar wieħed li għadu qed jaqbeż." by Nicholas Pullicino

A child holds a bag made of cloth which is attached to a string. S/he turns around holding this bag whilst keeping as low as possible enabling the other children to jump over it. If someone touches the bag, s/he is out of the game. The last one to remain is the winner.

Ix-Xixu

"Waqt ħarġa ma’ tal-iskola waqafna l-ġnien tar Rabat biex  nilagħbu xi  logħob tradizzjonali Malti. Waħda mill-logħbiet kienet ix-xixu.  Ix-xixu jintlagħab b’ injama twila ċatta u ppuntata f’tarf minnhom, kif ukoll injama żgħira b’żewġ ponot.  Il-persuna li tkun qed tilgħab trid tagħti daqqa bl-injama l-kbira fuq l-injama ż-żgħira biex din togħla fl-arja bid-daqqa.  Min jirnexxielu jtajjar l-injama ż-żgħira l-aktar il-bogħod ikun ir-rebbieħ jew rebbieħa.  Sħabi u jien lagħbna din il-logħba flimkien.  Kulħadd kellu ċans jagħti d-daqqa u tgħidx kemm ħadna pjaċir.  Din logħba Maltija tassew ħelwa u interessanti." by Sophia Xuereb

One needs a flat piece of wood for this game, which is pointed at one end and a smaller one pointed at both ends.  The  player must hit the smaller wood with the larger one so that it is thrown high up in the air. The player who manages to reach the longest distance is the winner.

Among others, traditional Maltese games include:

Skipping the Rope

Girls play with skipping ropes individually or in groups. In one popular game a girl calls out a series of possible attributes of an imaginary future husband as she skips and, when the rope hits her legs, she stops on the word assumed to predict the type of husband she would have.

Glass Marbles

Several varieties and forms of games are possible with marbles. Before the advent of glass marbles, children made do with hazelnuts. Pre-war Codd-Stoppered ginger bottles had a plain glass marble as a stopper and children often broke bottles to get it out.

Il - Passju