How to play bottle caps with children: a fun and educational guide

You already know that all times past were always better. It's the philosopher's stone of all properly understood nostalgia. For all of us who spent our childhood playing in the street, there are words that bring us back to those happy moments, when you were king of the mountain, climbing the hills and winning the yellow jersey... Perico Delgado, Induráin, Olano... the cycling heroes changed, but the game remained the same. Today we're going to play marbles, and we're suggesting three different games we used in my neighborhood. You already know that "This is how it is in my neighborhood" is the international phrase that grants immediate authority to the interlocutor and puts an end to any discussion about method and form. Cycling races, football matches and Formula 1 Indeed, the world of football was also reproduced by the small chapines of the bottled drinks of the moment. The bottle caps, Coca-Cola, Pepsi Mirinda, and Bitter Kas, the white ball with black spots was replaced by a chickpea, and the eleven-on-eleven game became the world of the chapín. If reading this makes you want to scrape the metal sheets against the ground to give them more traction, or fill the inside of the sheets with white glue or modeling clay to make them heavier... you're going to have a blast teaching your son or daughter the tricks and skills from your tender childhood of shorts and skinned knees.

Football matches

We'll need 22 bottle caps, as undamaged as possible. We can get them from any bar we ask (using the traditional method), or we can also collect them ourselves. Collecting your own has two advantages: first, you control the opening of the bottle, so the quality of the cap obtained is higher, and second, you have a great excuse to have a beer ;-) Once we have the badges ready, it's time to create the kit. Your kids can help you with this. Take a badge, draw its outline on a piece of paper, and repeat this process as many times as you need, want, or like the kits you have. You can go as crazy as you want here: first, second, third, Champions League, neighborhood, or World Cup kits... it's all part of the fun! Once you have the costumes drawn, you can color them as you wish and add numbers and, optionally, even names, sponsors, etc. Cut out the "shirts" and insert them into the bottle caps. Congratulations! You now have your brand-new bottle cap football team! All you need is a chickpea and some goals. For the goals, you can use a cardboard box cut in half, or make them from a piece of paper or cardboard, showing off your pre-technological skills. A little tape to mark out the playing field, and the Olympic stadium on your carpet at home will be ready for indoor competition. With just some chalk and a piece of sidewalk, you can move on to the outdoor version. You'll be guaranteed to catch the attention of passersby!

Cycling team

The process is similar, but you'll need fewer badges. Usually, two or three per player is enough to make a team. In addition to creating the cyclists' jerseys, you'll also need to make the yellow jersey, the King of the Mountains jersey, etc. The authentic track is made of sand, where by accumulating the excess with your hands at the edges you can make the peaks and even the mountain passes. Alternatives: Draw the track on the sidewalk with chalk, or make it with insulating tape or cellophane if you're making it at home, and if you have a rug with the road painted on it, well, there you have it!

Formula 1

The same rule applies as in the previous case, except now we'll have to make the teams like Brabhams, McLaren, Renault or Ferrari, and decorate like the drivers René Arnoux, Niki Lauda or Nelson Piquet instead of painting the jerseys, and prepare for the Monaco GP, Interlagos, Paul Ricard... or El Jarama.

Let your imagination fly

Dragons, unicorns, tricycles, fire trucks... there's no limit to the imagination, and by simply changing the outfit, the badges can be transformed into anything you want. By creating or personalizing a toy, you make it unique, inimitable, and very, very special. They'll show it to their friends and proudly say, "I made that." That's why we like 2-for-1 toys , those that on the one hand you can enjoy the part of creating and/or customizing them, and on the other hand the part of playing with them. Did you play differently in your neighborhood? Tell us about it!