THE 10 MOST POPULAR TRADITIONAL GUATEMALAN GAMES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The traditional games of Guatemala have roots in the games played by the Mayan civilization. This ancestral culture lived on Guatemalan soil approximately in the year 1500 after Christ.

Some of the games enjoyed by children in Guatemala are also popular in the rest of the world. Most of Guatemala's population is in a state of poverty or has limited access to many resources.

For this reason, the most traditional games in the country are simple games that do not require much clothing and can be played by all children, regardless of their economic status.

The most traditional games of this country are ideal to play in the streets. Either running after a soccer ball. Compete to win some colorful marbles. Hitting a piñata hard or running a race carrying an egg with a spoon.

There are traditional games in Guatemala whose origin is Spanish and were brought to Guatemalan soil with the colonization. In this way, the little plane (hopscotch), the tenta (it carries it) or the five (marbles) had their origin in Spain, but were adapted locally.

You may also be interested in these curiosities of Guatemala.

Traditional games of Guatemala

1- Ulama

Source: Manuel Aguilar-Moreno / CSULA Ulama Project via Wikimedia Commons)

Ulama is a ball game based on the ancient Mayan sport that is still played today. Evidence indicates that other Central American cultures also played this game.

The objective of the ulama is to keep the ball in play within the lines of play. Generally, five or more participants from each team play and points are awarded when one of the players misses and sends the ball out of the playing area.

In this game it is only allowed to hit the ball with the hip. The rules state that the team that first scores eight points wins the game.

2 - Piñata

Source: Yavidaxiu via Wikimedia Commons)

The piñata game is popular in almost all Hispanic cultures. Piñatas in Guatemala are traditionally made with wire and have the shape of a donkey, later they are covered with newspaper to form thick walls. Once the donkey's shape is covered, colored paper is glued to decorate it.

The game consists of hitting the piñata, in this way, the people who are participating in the game will take turns hitting it until it breaks, so many sweets must come out of it.

3- Football

In Guatemala, both children and adults of all classes enjoy the game of soccer. All you need is a ball and a space to run to play. This game is the most popular sport in Guatemala and many children dream of being famous soccer players one day.

The sport arrived in Guatemala in the mid-nineteenth century when English sailors settled on the coasts of the American continent and began to play in ports. This phenomenon initially occurred in Argentina, then expanded to Mexico, passing through Guatemala in 1862.

4- Egg race

This is a traditional game that children have played since the late 19th century. This game is also practiced in different parts of the world and is played by holding a spoon in the mouth and placing an egg on the concave end of the spoon.

Once all the participants are formed and with the eggs located, they must advance to the finish line, taking care that the egg does not fall from the spoon. In this way, whoever does not drop the egg wins.

5- singe

Source: David Weekly via Wikimedia Commons)

Chamuscas is called the street way of playing soccer. This game dates from the year 1900 when the lights of the municipal lighting did not exist in rural areas of Guatemala. In this way, the players would have to soak the ball in kerosene and set it on fire, so that it would be visible at night.

The word scorched comes from the scorched or burned of the ball. This game was dangerous mainly for the goalkeepers, however this never stopped them from playing. Nowadays, sears is played without referees, no uniforms, no prizes, and no burning ball. It is simply a game of pride and tradition.

Unlike traditional soccer, chamuscas is played between teams that can be mixed and made up of several players (from four to seven) and a goalkeeper. The team that scores the most goals in the defined time before the game starts, wins.

6- Fives

Children in Guatemala play various games in their spare time, including Cinco. This is a game of marbles in which mainly men participate and requires two or more participants to execute.

The object of the game is to hit the marbles of other players outside the playing area that is delimited by lines.

Each player can keep the marbles he is able to remove from the playing area. To define who plays first, players draw a line on the ground called a "mica", then they toss a marble six paces away from the mica. Whoever has thrown their marble closest to the mica plays first.

7- Rope

Jumping rope is one of the most traditional games in Guatemala and a good way to exercise. At least three people are needed for this game, two to move the rope and one to jump it.

The game consists of jumping the number of times equivalent to the number of rounds, in this way, if you are in round one, you jump once. The person who manages to jump the most without touching the rope wins.

8- Badges

Source: pixabay.com

The caps are the caps of the bottles. This game consists of decorating the covers and using them on clues drawn on the floor.

Children should throw the badges as far as possible and then run. The turns to play are distributed according to the distance at which the plate has been thrown.

9 - Little Plane

Avioncito is the name given to the traditional game of hopscotch popular in other regions of the continent. It is a game of Spanish tradition that consists of drawing on the ground a figure in the shape of a plane, divided into boxes, where the numbers from 1 to 10 are also drawn.

Players must throw a stone from square to square and advance through the plane by jumping, without touching the square where the stone was thrown.

10- Tenta

The game of tenta is known in other countries as "takes it". This game consists of someone "carrying" it and running after others to pass it to them. In this way, if the wearer touches another person, he or she will take it and must run to give it to someone else.

This game has a modality that consists of “electrifying” whoever is touched, in this way, the person touched must remain still until they are touched again by a partner who is not electrified.

Themes of interest

15 Traditional Games of Ecuador for Children and Adolescents.

Traditional games of Mexico.

Traditional games of Colombia.

References

1. Cabrera, C. (September 11, 2016). com. Obtained from Childhood games that every Guatemalan remembers: guatemala.com.
2. Peer, D. (2017). The Bump. Retrieved from Children's Games for Guatemalan Independence Day: living.thebump.com.
3. PL, H. (November 12, 2015). Free Press. Obtained from Those childhood games: prensalibre.com.
4. Salamanca, DQ (2017). Don Quixote. Obtained from SPANISH GAMES FOR KIDS: donquijote.org.
5. Sperry, A. (2017). eHow. Obtained from Traditional guatemalan games: ehow.com
6. (August 6, 2013). Unbound Blog. Obtained from Games children play in Guatemala: blog.unbound.org.
7. (2011). What Latin America. Obtained from Guatemala Sports: whatlatinamerica.com.