Happy playing with rocks
Last week I wrote about how brave kids can be when it comes to travel; somehow when we grow up we grow scared. This got me thinking about some of my travels and the kids I meet along my journeys. My recent hiking trip to Nepal came to mind. As my father and I hiked the Annapurna Circuit, we came across many kids who clearly weren’t scared of anything as you can see from the photos below!
The kids along the Annapurna Circuit trail would run up to us and start a conversation that went something like this,
“Pen?” they asked
“No, no pen.” I replied
“Chocolate?” they asked
“No, no chocolate.” I replied
“Picture?” they asked
“Sure, I’ll take your picture!” I replied which made everyone happy!
The kids loved to have their photos taken and even loved it more when you would show them their picture. Their faces would break out into a big smile and be accompanied by lots of giggling and screaming.
My travels expose me to many different cultures and I often like to focus on the kids because they seem to be so happy playing with what little they have. I am often amazed by how easily they can entertain themselves with so little. Their ‘toys’ are simple and sometimes dangerous, but they don’t take batteries!
Here are some of my favorite photos of kids and their toys.
A dead mouse as a toy...it certainly wasn't made by Fischer Price
A big knife as a toy...I couldn't take my eyes off of him!
Luckily all of his fingers remained intact!
However Nepal wasn’t the only place with deadly children’s toys. Here are a few more of my favorites from Cambodia and Thailand!
Cambodia:
 Peek-a-boo.... |
 I see you! |
Thailand:
No batteries required...
How's this for a toy? It's not plastic.
Great photos of simple pleasures for kids – can’t beat rocks to move around, stack!
Amazing photos, I’m often mesmerized at how children will play with the simplest things like a box. The knife boy scares me though, that can’t be good.
Beautiful photos. One of the best elements of digital cameras is that you can show people the photo that you took. In places like Nepal, that adds to the experience as you see their reaction to your photo. I have seen kids all over the world play the game with the hoop and stick – simple and universal.
Man, I wish I got to play with huge knifes as a kid. Lincoln logs seem sooo boring now
This reminds me of when I was in Vietnam and watched a 2 year old, happy as can be, playing with an empty tin can. It was at a homestay and I left a pack of pens and some little notepads I had bought before the trip with the parents before I left. They were so grateful. I found for the most part the children just like their pictures taken and getting useful things. It’s only the ones that have been taught by their parents to beg who drive me crazy.
Love the photos. They really capture the joy of children playing with the simplest of toys. I don’t know about that knife, though.
If we played with knives as children, we’d have certainly cut off our ears! But that one kid looks like he’s chopping away at a piece of wood in order to manufacture his very own arrow…
And kids everywhere seem to love the stick and tire. I’m not quite sure about the dead mouse though…