Television and cartoon characters in children's lives

 

All over the world the best fun for children is to play games or watch their favorite animation movies and TV programs. Since the declaration of independence in1991, the children of Uzbekistan have been exposed to the world culture to a great extent. By world culture I mean the programs, cartoons and computer games that are favored by most of the children in all countries.

 

For example such characters as Tom and Jerry, Droopy, Pope Eye, Pocket Monsters, and Ampaman became the "cool" buddies of children of preschool ages and above. This is because mainly these cartoons are very colorful and describe actions and situations through facial expressions and music, than actually spoken words. Also these cartoons picture the scenes taking place in young children's everyday life.

 

Disney animation movies together with the above-described cartoons comprise most of the time of Uzbek television channels. In recent years the number of private television channels has increased. Based on marketing research and studies of children's likes and dislikes in developed countries, Uzbek television channels, both private and public, have been very active in introducing more and more amusing and breath catching animation movies for Uzbek children.

 

Among the Disney productions, the most popular ones are: Pocahontas, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and Seven Dwarfs, and Lion King. Parents are glad that television is drawing of attention of children with this kind of animations, because they teach the ideas of honesty, kindness and friendship. As for Sleeping Beauty and Winnie the Pooh, the Uzbek version is considered more interesting. They were best works created prior to independence, and possess a great deal of humor and portrayal of major and minor characters in a very easy and interesting way according to specifics of Uzbek culture.

 

Here you can see the Uzbek version of Winnie and Piglet. Children find them very cute. Every expression Winnie or Piglet say sounds very funny and at the same time so innocent and primitive, that it brings smile to adults as well.

 

Favorite games of children

 

Residential areas in Uzbek cities and towns are very lively and noisy. It is very interesting to take a look at what is happening on the playgrounds. Mostly, Uzbek children like various outdoor games that vary by seasons. For example summer games are mostly hide-and-seek, run-and-catch. In the fine weather girls like to have little tea parties. Boys, on the other hand, like to play some strategic games, setting up fake "army headquarters", building camps and making two teams to try to win some special prize or reaching a particular goal such as occupying a "territory", etc.

Autumn's favorite games are: lapta, a game of ball, with two children throwing it two each other while the third child in the middle tries to escape being hit by the ball, if it hits, then the player in the middle is replaced by the person who's through hit the player in the middle. Another one is playing with a skipping-rope, again two children rotating the rope, and one or two children in the middle, jumping as the skipping-rope reaches the ground.

 

As you can see, summer games are games of a bigger group of children. This is because summer is the longest school/kindergarten break. Also summer days are much longer and warmer, so there is a larger number of children who want to play. As for autumn games, they are played when the school starts and the break between the classes is short. So autumn games are fun and short, and are played between no more than 4 children. It is a well-known fact, that already in school children create their own groups according to their interests. These groups are normally comprised of 4 or 6 children.

 

Since winter in Uzbekistan is quite snowy, the only play of winter season is snow fight, or creating a skating ground, and building a snowman. Mostly, winter is spent in lots of study, to keep the children occupied and away from cold playgrounds. However, winter games are so much fun that cold weather does not really matter. It is the time of various school parties connected with the New Year, masquerades, and creative work such as: preparing Christmas tree decorations, handmade Christmas cards and displaying class bulletin prepared by the hands of children themselves.

 

Spring as beautiful in Uzbekistan as it is in Japan. Mainly, the trees that bloom, are the ones that bear fruit. Since Uzbekistan's economy is mostly agricultural, there is a great number of big gardens that represent quite a picturesque scene in this time of the year. Naturally what children like to do in spring is also connected with the awakening of the nature from a long winter's sleep. Because the weather is still unstable and changing, playgrounds are normally in the yard of one house or another. Girls like to collect flowers and make various decorations out of them such as bracelets, necklaces or diadems. Boys spend time either playing computer games or assisting their households with the works related to the coming of spring, such as planting something or helping their mothers with spring cleaning. This is how the fun time of Uzbekistan children varies according to the season.