Traditional Guatemalan Games

1- Ulama
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 goal 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 indicate that the team that first scores
eight points wins the game.

2 – Piñata
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, then they are covered with
newspaper to form thick walls. Once the donkey shape is covered, colored paper is glued to it
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, then a lot of candy must come out of it.

3- Football
In Guatemala, both children and adults of all classes enjoy the game of soccer. The only thing
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-19th century when English sailors settled on the
coasts of the American continent and began playing 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
played in different parts of the world and is played by holding a spoon in your 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- Scorches
The street way of playing soccer is called chamuscas. This game dates back to the year
1900 when 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 chamuscas comes from the scorched or burned part of the ball. This game was
dangerous mainly for the goalkeepers, however, this never stopped them from playing.
Nowadays, chamuscas is played without referees, uniforms, prizes, or a flaming 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 (four to seven) and
a goalkeeper. The team that scores the most goals in the time defined before starting the game wins.

6- Fives
Children in Guatemala play several games in their free time, including Cinco. This is a marble
game primarily played by men and requires two or more participants to play.

The object of the game is to hit other players' marbles outside the playing area that is
delimited by lines.
Each player can keep the marbles that he is able to remove from the playing area. To
determine who plays first, players draw a line on the ground called a “mica,” then throw a marble six paces away from the mica.
Whoever threw his 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. You need at least three
people for this game, two who move the rope and one who jumps it.

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

8- Badges
The caps are the bottle caps. This game involves decorating the caps and using
them on clues drawn on the ground.

The children must throw the badges as far as possible and then run. The turns to
play are distributed according to the distance to which the ball has been thrown.

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

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

10- Tempt
The game of tenta is known in other countries as “la carries”. This game consists of someone “taking it” and running
after the others to pass it to them. In this way, if the person carrying it touches another person, they 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.