Past and present for kids starts with a simple question: what did people use long ago, and what do we use now? A child who flips a switch every night has never thought that people once lit an oil lamp. This page makes that change visible. Golu shows an old object in a brown, old-photo card and asks, "Long ago, people used an oil lamp. What do we use now?" Your child taps the modern partner, the light bulb. In Hindi, the past is पहले or बहुत पहले, and now is अब.
What your child learns about then and now
The game uses nine pairs of old and new things, each chosen because the job stayed the same while the tool changed:
| Long ago (पहले) | Now (अब) | The job it does |
|---|---|---|
| Oil lamp (दीया) | Light bulb | Gives light at night |
| Old dial phone | Smartphone | Talks to people far away |
| Bullock cart (बैलगाड़ी) | Car | Carries people on roads |
| Steam train | Fast train | Carries many people over long distances |
| Feather pen | Pen | Writes words |
| Sailboat | Big ship | Crosses the sea |
| Hut (झोपड़ी) | House | Keeps a family safe and dry |
| Sand clock | Clock | Tells how much time has passed |
| Letter (चिट्ठी) | Message on a phone | Sends news to someone |
The big idea for a young child is not dates. It is that things change over time, and people made them better. Your child also builds time words (long ago, before, now, today), comparison ("faster", "brighter"), and curiosity about how grandparents lived.
How to play the then and now game
Mode 1: Then and now
An old object appears in a sepia card, the colour of an old photo, so even a child who cannot read knows it is "from long ago". Golu speaks the question in Hindi and English, and your child taps the modern partner from two or three choices. The grown-up settings choose how many choices appear: fewer for younger children, three for ages 5-6.
Mode 2: Sort it
Pictures appear with two bins: Long ago and Now. Your child taps a picture, hears its name, then taps a bin. This is harder because there is no partner to compare with. Your child has to remember which things are old.
In both modes Golu never says "wrong". A mistaken tap names the thing your child chose, then the right answer glows, then Golu's finger 👆 points to it. Every game ends with a marble in the Goli Jar and a mission: ask a grandparent what they used long ago instead of a phone. The अ+A button sets the language order, and calm sound and calm motion are in the settings.
What age is right for past and present?
Time ideas grow slowly. Most children understand "yesterday" and "tomorrow" around 4, and a sense of "long, long ago" arrives around 5 to 6. Many schools teach past and present in UKG or class 1 EVS, often as "means of transport then and now" or "means of communication past and present". Here is a rough guide:
- Age 4: play the Then and now mode with two choices. Focus on the words "old" and "new". Your child may think grandparents lived with dinosaurs, and that is a sweet, normal mix-up.
- Age 5: three choices, and start the Sort it mode. Ask "Why is the new one better?" (faster, brighter, safer).
- Age 6: both modes with ease. Introduce past, present and future: "What will phones look like when you are a grandparent?"
For under-2s, a grown-up and real objects beat any screen. For older children, keep screen time short (5-10 minutes) and play together, then carry the talk into real life.
How to teach past and present at home
Talk to grandparents
Grandparents are the best history teachers a small child has. Ask them to tell one story: how they went to school, what they cooked on, how they phoned relatives. Many will remember a black dial phone, a radio, letters from the post office or a trip by bullock cart. If grandparents live far away, a video call is itself a nice then-and-now lesson: "Nani used to wait weeks for a letter. Now we see her face on the phone."
Find old things at home
Many Indian homes still have a brass दीया, a चक्की (hand grinder), a सिलबट्टा (grinding stone) or an old radio. Put an old thing next to its new partner, such as a diya next to a torch, or the grinding stone next to the mixer. Let your child hold both and say which is old and which is new. Our household items name page gives the everyday words.
Look at family photos
Old photos, especially black-and-white ones, show clothes, houses and vehicles from before. Ask, "What is different?" This links to family members name in Hindi, because your child can also say who is who.
Festivals and transport
At Diwali, clay diyas still sit beside electric lights, which is a perfect then-and-now picture. On a trip, point out a bullock cart on a village road and a car on the highway side by side. You can continue with vehicles name for kids and land, water and air transport to talk about how we travel today.
Make a then and now book
Fold a paper in half. Your child draws the old thing on the left and the new thing on the right. Six pages make a small book to show a grandparent. You can print this page and use the table above as a guide.
Interesting then and now facts for curious kids
- India's first passenger train ran in 1853 from Bombay (now Mumbai) to Thane, pulled by steam engines that puffed smoke. Today fast electric trains cross the country.
- Before paper and pens were common, children in India practised writing on a wooden board (तख्ती) with a reed pen and ink.
- A sand clock (hourglass) measures time by letting sand fall from the top to the bottom. Your child can see time pass, which a real clock does with hands and numbers.
- Letters could take many days to arrive. Now a message reaches the other side of the world in a second.
Around the world, "then and now" is a standard kindergarten history topic, and the same pairs appear in many countries: candles and bulbs, horses and cars, letters and messages.
Gentle tips for every child
- Old is not bad. Say "people did clever things with what they had". Children should respect the past and their elders, not laugh at them.
- Praise thinking: "You noticed the train has no smoke now. Good looking!"
- Frustration: if the Sort it mode is hard, go back to Then and now, where the partner helps.
- Speech delay or autism: the game works fully with taps. Real objects side by side, with the same two words "old" and "new", help many children. Use the fewer-choices and calm settings.
- Bilingual homes: पहले and अब are easy first words; let grandparents use the home language.
