Abstract
The current chapter focuses on children’s play and toys based upon an ethnographic research in the everyday work and play life of Fulbe (sing. Pullo) pastoralists’ children in Northern Benin.
The concept of childhood and children is analyzed from both the point of view of adults and children. It will be seen how adult ideas influence children’s perceptions of themselves and of their play activities. In the current research Fulbe children articulated both how play fitted into their lives and what these activities meant to them. It follows a description of the principle play activities of Fulbe children, with a focus on sexual differentiation during play, the seasonality of play activities, and the relationship with nature. This research wishes to give useful insights to projects of intercultural education, using play as unifying tool. Moreover, this research intends to contribute to social studies literature on childhood which recognize the importance of children’s voices as well as the intergenerational relationship. The chapter ends with the wish of an interdisciplinary collaboration between anthropology and geography in children studies.
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Licitra, E. (2015). Play and Learning in Benin. In: Evans, B., Horton, J., Skelton, T. (eds) Play, Recreation, Health and Well Being. Geographies of Children and Young People, vol 9. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-96-5_32-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-96-5_32-1
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