Rwandan Traditional Games
Primary 4 · Physical Education
Rwandan Traditional Games
Lesson 1 of 3
20 min
Let's begin
In the school holidays, Ishimwe visits his grandfather. Grandfather takes out an old wooden board full of little holes and a bag of seeds.
"Before there was television, this is how we had fun," he says. "Come, I will teach you." What other games did Rwandans play long ago, and why do they still matter today?
Traditional games (imikino gakondo) are games Rwandans played long ago, before the Europeans came. Grandparents taught them to parents, and parents taught them to children.
Most of them need nothing from a shop. Seeds, sticks, a rope, a banana stem or a few holes dug in the soil are enough.
Young children mostly played games that kept them busy and happy together: kwihishana (hide and seek), ubute (a chasing game, like tag) and gusiganwa (running races).
Older young people and adults played games that needed more strength or thinking:
| Game | How it was played |
|---|---|
| Ubute | Children run and dodge. The player who has "ubute" touches someone to pass it on. Nobody wants to be left with it at the end! |
| Igisoro | A counting game for two players, with 64 seeds on a board of 32 holes. |
| Gusimbuka urukiramende | High jump over a crossbar resting on two posts. The bar goes higher and higher. |
| Sebutimbiri | Jumping with feet together over a row of up to six low bars. |
| Kumasha | Shooting arrows at a target, such as a banana trunk, to learn to aim. |
| Intembe | A ring cut from a banana stem is rolled along the ground, and players aim at the hole in its middle. |
| Gukirana | Wrestling for two: each tries to bring the other to the ground, without hitting. |
Girls and boys often played different games long ago. Today every child can play all of them.
Fewer children play these games today, so Rwanda's museums keep them safe. Children who visit are shown how they were played and why they mattered. Playing them with friends is also much better for you than sitting for hours in front of a television.
Tip
Games are a gift from our grandparents. Ask an elder at home: "Which game did you play when you were my age?" Then ask them to teach you.
Think about each one first, then tap Show answer to check.
What are traditional games?
Answer: Games Rwandans played long ago and passed down from grandparents to parents to children.
Name one game young children played and one game older youth played.
Answer: For example, ubute or kwihishana for young children; igisoro or gusimbuka urukiramende for older youth.
Give two reasons traditional games are important.
Answer: Any two of these: they bring people together, sharpen the mind, keep the body healthy, and carry our culture.
What do you need to play ubute?
Answer: Only some friends and a safe, open space.
Do it: ask an elder about a game they played as a child. Write its name and one rule.
Answer: Your own answer. Share it with your class so everyone learns a new game.
What you learned today
Sources and credits
The story, the explanations and the practice were written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick check
Match each traditional game to what it is.
Tap one on the left, then its partner on the right.
