http://wjss.sciedupress.com World Journal of Social Science Vol. 3, No. 2; 2016 Published by Sciedu Press 63 ISSN 2329-9347 E-ISSN 2329-9355 Imparting Indigenous Knowledge through Traditional Forms of Entertainment: The Role of Ewe Play Games Martin Q. Amlor 1,* 1 Centre for African and International Studies, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana *Correspondence: Centre for African and International Studies, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana. Tel: 233-244-818-485. E-mail: fmqamlor@yahoo.com Received: May 31, 2016 Accepted: July 10, 2016 Online Published: July 20, 2016 doi:10.5430/wjss.v3n2p63 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/wjss.v3n2p63 Abstract Indigenous knowledge, perceived as cultural norms and values that collectively inform, educate and give identity to people in a society, still remains an African cultural legacy. Unfortunately, Western culture in contemporary Ghana, is speedily competing with, and almost stunting the growth and survival of African indigenous knowledge systems. This unpleasant situation has led to a re-awakening among the Ewe ethnic society to go back to her roots to revive indigenous entertainment forms like play games to promote the teaching, learning and preservation of indigenous education. The major concern of this paper is to identify some popular Ewe play and singing games and describe how activities in them in terms of their forms, participants, equipment, rules/codes of play, socio-cultural settings within which they are performed help to educate, nurture, shape and equip the youth or children to take up future adult roles in the society. Keywords: indigenous knowledge, entertainment, play and singing games, society 1. Introduction The connection between play and culture has an illustrious past (Holmes, 2011). The classic play theorist, Huizinga (1950) articulates the position of play as a cultural phenomenon that both humans and animals share. Garvey (1990) corroborates Huizinga’s position and opines: “play is not just a past time activity, but a useful cultural tool that satisfies certain needs and purposes of adults, adolescents, children and cognitively, advanced non-human species such as primates. In the absence of written records in the past, Kenyatta (2004) and Ndee (2010), state that the cultural traditions of Africans were transmitted from one generation to the other through the use of memory, verbal communication and specific activities. There were, therefore, a number of cultural elements that facilitated cognitive development to enhance recall and communication of facts. Some of these cultural elements included games, stories, songs and dances (Wanderi, 2001 and 2011, Kenyatta, 2004). These cultural elements are considered crucial as they teach, bear meaning and understanding within African cultural context and project the identity of the people. Among the Ewes of Ghana, the youth or children’s indigenous forms of entertainment which among others include play and singing games, go a long way to teach and give them in-depth understanding and, as well, measure their creative aesthetic values of their folklore which have in-built specifications and mechanisms that render it culture-specific. According to Cheska (1987), “in making reference to socio-cultural games, the use of songs and dance together with other related art forms like ornamentation, drama and literature are elements that enforce the beliefs and satisfy the needs of the society in which the performers are located”. Similarly, these forms of entertainment among the young ones in Eweland, are perceived as miniature windows through which values, behaviour and societal ethics of the people are observed. Stressing further why societies in contemporary Africa still engage in indigenous forms of entertainment, Nyato and Mpara (2008) cite the case of children’s play and singing games of the Shona of Zimbabwe: Knowledge expressed in play and singing games are accessed through children’s play activities which provide social context for the accumulation of cherished socio-cultural virtues and values which comprise good behaviour, discipline, hard work and competitive spirit, encountering and handling issues of success