Children's Games on Southern Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan: Continuity and Transmission of Cultural Values

Abstract

Children's games are one of the elements used by individuals in society to transfer their culture to the future. The child experiences the stages of understanding and recognizing the world they live in while playing games. Through games, the child learns the behavioral patterns of social life and various aspects of culture, perhaps for the first time. Play, which is one of the basic needs of the child, is a duty for him/her. The child who plays with fun learns by practicing rituals that contain cultural elements. Thus, cultural transfer is realized. When studies on children's games in the Turkic world are looked into, it is seen that there is not much difference in terms of practice and rules in games. In this article, the children's games of South Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan Turks will be compared in terms of the creation and transfer of cultural memory, and the survival of national and universal values. © 2024 Hacettepe University. All rights reserved.