Abstract

Sotho-Tswana children’s games contribute to the well-being of young children in South Africa. However, the broader potential of indigenous African games has not been fully recognized. Their value goes well beyond entertainment, as they represent learning tools that benefit children in their early childhood and beyond. In many rural settings in South Africa, learning about well-being as a member of a family and of the surrounding community does start not at a formal school but within the environment where children spend their early formative years, playing games and being taught basic skills that benefit them when they enter the formal schooling system and are integrated in a broader society. This paper examines the performance of indigenous games as informal learning tools that help children in rural areas in South Africa to adapt with some ease to the different stages of growing up. Thereto, the study autoethnographically analyses five indigenous games and their roles in promoting children’s well-being by offering them an informal learning experience. A Setswana adage is used to provide theoretical insight in line with analytical autoethnography, while purposive sampling was applied, selecting specific games, based on the researcher’s prior knowledge and his childhood experience of games. The researcher supplements information with relevant literature to triangulate the importance of games as an informal learning tool to benefit the well-being of children.