CHILDREN’S GAME AS EVERYDAY LIFE ELEMENT FOR RURAL RESIDENTS OF CHUVASHIA AT THE BEGINNING OF THE XXI CENTURY

Based on field materials, the article describes the study of children’s outdoor summer games of the Chuvash rural population of the beginning of the XXI century which was undertaken for the first time. These games continue to be favorite and diverse in the children’s environment. They not only contributed to the physical strengthening of children, but also trained endurance, developed eye sight measurement, broadened horizons, taught to interact in a team and to treat various situations with humor. Action-oriented games were strikingly conservative and passed down from generation to generation almost unchanged. However, the changes taking place in the world around children also affect the children’s gaming culture, which leads, on the one hand, to the emergence of new modifications of the characterized games, on the other hand, the native language is used less in children’s games and game folklore. The conducted research has shown that preschool institutions and schools can become an important factor in preserving knowledge about traditional Chuvash games, and consequently, about the Chuvash culture.