During ancient timeschildren didn't have smart phoneiPad or computer to entertain them. Insteadthey came up with interesting games to play in their childhood. Let's take a look.

1. Stone balls

During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)kicking a stone ball around was a popular sport in the northern part of Chinaand it was often played in the winter to keep warm. Stones were carved into small balls and kicked along with feet. In 1999the sport was included in the competition item in the 6th National Ethnic Group Traditional Sports Meeting held in Beijing.

2. Flying kites

Kites have quite a long history. The earliest kites were made of woodinstead of paper. Nowadaysthe three most famous kites are the Beijing kiteTianjin kite and Weifang kitewhich each has distinctive features. The swallow-shaped kite is a well-known Beijing .

3. Hide-and-seek

Hide-and-seek is a traditional game for childrenpopular around the nation. There are two ways to play: covering a child's eyes while other kids run around to tease him ormore commonlyparticipants hide and one child must try to find them.

4. Watching shadow plays

The closest thing to watching a film or television for entertainment during ancient times was going to see a shadow play. Folk artists manipulate puppets behind the screennarrating stories and accompanyied by music. During the Qing Dynastyshadow play art reached its peakand was staged for each major occasion. Shadow play was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2006and was added to the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list in 2011.

5. Playing diabolo

Diabolo is always made of wood or bamboo and is hollow in the center. By juggling diabolo on ropesthe high-speed rotating diabolo will make a sound. Playing diabolo is a very interesting folk gameespecially popular in North China. Through many changesit has become an item in Chinese traditional acrobatics. Playing diabolo was also included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage in 2006.

6. Firecrackers

Firecrackers have a history of more than 2,000 years. It is said that there was a beast namedNian in ancient Chinaand to scare off the beastpeople burnt bamboo joints to make it blast. After gunpowder was inventedit gradually replaced the bamboo joint cracker. Crackers are still set off during Spring Festival to symbolize auspiciousness.

Source：China Daily