WG5 Seminars
Traditional Games and Heritage Education: connecting the past, the present and the future (Francesca Berti)

During the webinar hosted by WG5, scheduled for Friday, June 06, 2025, from 18:00 CET, Francesca Berti will present Traditional Games and Heritage Education: connecting the past, the present and the future

Abstract: The present contribution proposes an investigation of traditional games as a tool for heritage education. Found in all ages and in all regions of the world, traditional games are recognised by UNESCO as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (UNESCO 2017). Such heritage is both an expression of cultural diversity and the universality of the human experience of play (Parlebas 2016). The theoretical framework of the research is, therefore, that of play studies (including Caillois 1961, Sutton-Smith 1997).
The term 'traditional' conventionally refers to games that were invented before the industrial production of the game, around the middle of the 18th century (Berti 2021). These include both games played by children and games played by adults. Games shape the way we share our time with others, whether in the playground or in the pub, after school or during a celebration, as a hobby or a pastime. In other words, play and society are interwoven (Lavega Burgués 2006). A comparison of traditional games played in different regions of the world and their classification into typologies (e.g. ball games, stick games, top games, board games, etc.) reveals a variety of players, rules and equipment, but also striking similarities (Berti 2023).
The contribution explores how a focus on these traditional play practices can contribute to the development of heritage education in primary schools. The aim is to foster children's participation in exploring the past, acting in the present and caring for the future. Valorisation and safeguarding of heritage, as well as the possibility of social cohesion and dialogue within a local community, are the expected results of implementing heritage education projects involving the discovery and rediscovery of traditional games - in formal and non-formal education contexts. Thanks to the lightness of play and the discovery of cultural similarities, such projects, in fact, may well favour intergenerational and intercultural encounters (Berti 2023).