This thesis attempts to present a variety of world cultures through playing. The first part of the thesis explains playing through theory, that is what playing is, what it means for the child, how it influences the child's development and how it can be used as therapy.Comparing games in different countries such as games in Slavonia, New Zealand and Great Britain, is attempted as well. Through travel reports of many authors an overview has been made of the lives and ways of playing of children in the Sahara, India, Himalaya and Istria and a noticeable difference of these cultures is evident. Towards the end of the thesis, traditional Istrian games that have been preserved till today, are described.This section introduces the reader to the 34 methodological part of the thesis on which the research was done. The method of interview was used to research and compare ways of playing in the past and today, the way children lived in the past and today and the differences in those ways of living. The interview consists of ten questions related to the childhoods of people of different parts of Croatia. The goal of the interview was to discover the traditional games of the past, how our "old folks" spent childhood days, what favourite toys looked like and to compare games of then and now. When the analysis of the interview was done, a significant difference was noticed in the ways of playing and in the look and the shape of toys.