PRIMARY school children are replacing gadgets with bygone street games to mark the 400th anniversary of the completion of Derry's walls.
Adults with learning disabilities who are members of Stage Beyond are taking the lead in combined theatre and education workshops.
The old-fashioned games are to be rolled out in schools in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area as part of the Walls 400 programme.
Stage Beyond's artistic manager Dee Conaghan, said the group trailed the games with tourists during the summer months and had been bowled over by the positive response.
The award-winning theatre company for adults with learning and developmental disabilities offers accredited OCN arts training in a variety of disciplines.
Its aims are to encourage self-esteem, sociability and life skills.
Ms Conaghan said it sought funding ahead of the 400th anniversary celebrations as the group wanted to be involved in a fun way.
"Many years ago, Jim Craig, who was a teacher at Steelstown Primary School, had done a book on games of bygone years and how they often reflected what was going on in society generally so we thought that would be a fun way of explaining the walls throughout their history," she said.
"Street games are a tradition that has passed from generation to generation. Almost by osmosis each child seems to know the rules, the conventions, the dos and especially the don'ts. These street games are as old as the walls themselves and Stage Beyond wanted to show how some of them were played."
The Leapfrogging the Walls games look at four periods – The Plantation of Ulster, The Siege of Derry, The Victorian Era and World War Two.
"We were out on the walls over the summer and played the games with people from America, Australia, Germany, Holland, Israel, England and Republic of Ireland and a few local youth groups too. It was great fun with lots of tourists from all over the world interacting with our members who were handing out leaflets and encouraging people to come along and join in. The Church Bastion on the walls was a natural theatre setting and everyone took part – they had no choice," Ms Conaghan added.
"Our members loved it. They were dressed in period costume and they had put a lot of time into researching what would be worn at the Siege or during World War Two. It was great learning and great fun.
"We're getting ready now to go into various primary schools in the Derry and Strabane areas to share that learning and that fun. We'll give a short presentation and then get the children involved in the games through a theatre and education workshop centring around the various periods of history."
