7 Flowers Every Maltese Kid Wasted Endless Hours Playing With
Growing up in Malta meant endless Sundays spent running wild through the fields of Ta Qali. Despite all the creative games our parents would come up with, the most fun we’d have is playing with the plants and flowers we’d see all around. Here were some of our favourites.
1. Nature’s bullets
Another versatile plant in the childhood entertainment industry, these could be used for an all-out war (think of it as a poor man’s paintball) or for a sneaky, natural version of a “kick me” sign stuck to an adult’s back.
… and their cheap knock-off that never worked as planned
There was nothing sadder than going to peel these off the stalk, only to find them stuck together way too tightly.
Fuck you mini-wheat.
2. Papoċċi
AKA Dragon Snappers, these would be used as anything from outdoor puppet shows to imaginary friends.
3. “He loves me, he loves me not…”
Even just looking at this flower brings back the strong smell of stained fingers spent deciding whether our crush loved us or not. Also, if the petal split while you tugged at it, did it count or did you start again?
4. Fairies
Better known by adults as dandelions (… boring), fairies were the ultimate wish machine. Whether you caught one as it floated by, or found a whole cluster you could blow, seeing one always made your day.
… and their painful knock-off that taught us all a lesson in observation
If you dove in after this hoping to get some wishes, you’d soon find out the exact opposite was about to come true.
5. Nature’s soft drink
Nothing cooled you off more than a (potentially dog-piss covered) fjura tal-Ingliżi‘s juice sucked straight from the stem.
6. And its complimentary buffet
We probably tried to eat everything we saw, and despite a few failures on the way…
… we eventually had some sweet, sweet successes.
7. Cucumber grenades
Tickle their belly and watch them explode. The squirting cucumbers were every mother’s nightmare, and every child’s holy grail. Finding one of these made you the coolest kid in the field.
