Village Kids Play with Waste Tyres
When I read the Thursday Photo Challenge theme is WHEELS, my thoughts raced back to that day when I saw a little boy playing with a wheel. This was in Sunderbans, West Bengal.
Two little boys were playing this rolling the tyre game. They were rolling an old worn out waste tyre by turns. One of them had a stick and was engrossed in trying to run with the wheel, he was hitting it at regular intervals to keep it straight and rolling. It seemed to me as if it was an art he was trying to master.
Isn’t it such an interesting outdoor toy for kids?
2 Boys Play with Waste Tyre
It was noon, under the hot sun both kids were playing, sweating profusely yet totally immersed in their game. Weren’t their mothers looking out for them?
We had finished our lunch and had just set off for a village tour of Sundernbans, when we noticed these 2 little boys. I remembered my childhood days, I had tried rolling an old worn out cycle tyre but could never master that art. It felt so good to see the 2 boys engrossed the game, competing and sharing the same toy.
Simple pleasures of life! I have never seen the city bred kids playing the same. Instead they are often pampered with tech toys. They are missing out so much fun I thought.
Boys Play with Waste Tyre – Run and Roll tire
The activity kept the boy so engaged in his mind that he was not aware he was almost going to bump in to us. I moved out of his way so that I don’t disturb his game.
A tyre that was thrown away as useless was a source of joy and enjoyment for him. He wasn’t dependent on any costly toy, nor could his parents afford any.
I could see clearly it was a learning experience for him; he made good reuse of a waste stuff, his reflexes improved while trying to balance the wheel and he learned to be happy on his own! Wish I could be like him!
I saw the other boy didn’t have any stick but he was rolling the tire with bare hands. He had mastered the art, it seemed. He ran along the rolling tyre for some distance and then came back to start point.
Tyre rolling game
Years later during my tour of Gopaplur village in Jajpur Odisha, I saw a little girl busy playing with a tire. She seemed to be a master at it.
rolling tire game in village – Girl playing with cycle tyre
Have you played this game as a child? What rural street games have you played? Pithoo? Lagori? Seven tiles? Kith-kith? What other outdoor toys for kids do you know? Let me know in comment box.
If you are excited to get kids outdoors introduce them to this unique game with old tyres. These outdoor toys encourages several skills and also burns some energy.
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Woh I was stunned by your post! Even a usual routine of someone could impact a matter of quest to others! Every person has his/her own world with different perspective, which nobody can even imagine. Great yar! really enjoyed your post.. 🙂
Amazing!
Ay! Did a lot of this.Alas, this generation hardly knows this game.
Children have this beautiful ability to create new & interesting things for their joy and enjoyment.
Nice click…
a wonderful click for the theme.. big likes. 🙂
That brought back lot of memories. Thanks for sharing the picture
I love this shot. When I was a child we used to play with old tires in our residential area.
very true 🙂
Bingo !! Perfect !! thats the wheel .. the rural toy of India till date .. i have had so much fun as a child running with the tyre with a stick to help rotating it .. at my natives place.. and when my parents would see me playing the village game .. they would chase me just to stop the fun 😀
Awesome capture !!
What a great moment to capture. Kids are so resourceful by nature.
the boy is very much focused on his playing with the tyre.nice picture.
Havent seen this in such a long time. Thanks for refreshing my memory. Awesome capture
True… reminded me on my golden days 🙂 Thanks.
Reminded me of a very rural place i visited about 15-18 years ago…
Aah small joys of life… Lovely photo…
Even I use to play with cycle tyre…I loved my childhood days
I used to play with a hoop and stick like this.
Children who have no toys are very creative !
In many ways I envy a child's ability to make a toy out of the most ordinary things. It's too bad so many lose that imagination and creativity as they grow older. I love the look of concentration you've captured on the boy.
I used to do this a lot with my brothers…it was total fun.
What a lovely shot! The best toys are usually the simplest ones.
Hmmm so many times I have seen rural kids or kids from Slums playing with things which we can never imagine can be used this way. Guess this is real innovation 🙂
the bliss of childhood….
Most of us have had this toy in our childhood.
Interesting shot, the second kid has very good expressions….
Great shot! This brings back memories of how my brothers used to play with metal wheel rims like this. They made courses with ramps and obstacles and had races to see who could keep get through the course first.
Violet N.
Yes so funny to play! and we grown-ups should have played more too :))
Lovely photo! 🙂
Lovely photo of the young boys having a great time. I remember seeing old photos of children doing the same thing in England, with bamboo hoops and stick. Good fun!
so cute!