Korean Traditional Game : Sogup Nori

🍲 Korean Traditional Game Series 56

Sogup Nori
(소꿉놀이 · Korean Pretend Cooking Play)

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🕰️ 1. Introduction

Sogup Nori (소꿉놀이) is one of Korea’s most beloved traditional pretend-play games, centered on cooking, family roles, and everyday life.
Using small pots, bowls, leaves, stones, and mud, children recreated the rhythms of home — preparing meals, sharing food, and caring for one another through imagination.

More than simple play, Sogup Nori reflected Korean values of family, cooperation, and nurturing.
Through imitation of adults, children learned social roles naturally, discovering empathy and responsibility in a warm, playful way.

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🪄 2. How to Play

1. Setting the “kitchen”:
   Children gather natural materials such as leaves (as vegetables), stones (as rice cakes), and dirt or sand (as soup).
   Small broken bowls, lids, or wooden pieces become cooking tools.
2. Assigning roles:
   Players choose roles like parent, child, guest, or cook.
   Roles often change, allowing everyone to experience different responsibilities.
3. Cooking and serving:
   Pretend meals are carefully “prepared,” stirred, and served with polite words such as
   “많이 드세요!” (“Please enjoy your meal!”).
4. Sharing the meal:
   The joy lies not in winning, but in sharing — sitting together, talking, and laughing as if at a real family table.

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👀 3. Example from Life

In a sunny corner of the yard, children squat around a small patch of dirt.
Leaves are torn into tiny pieces and dropped into a cracked bowl.
“This is seaweed soup,” one announces proudly, while another places pebbles carefully on a leaf plate.

They bow slightly before “eating,” copying the adults they see every day.
In that quiet moment, play becomes practice — for kindness, patience, and togetherness.

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🌏 4. Similar Traditions Around the World

• China: Pretend household games using toy kitchens or natural materials.
• India: Role-play cooking games that reflect family and community life.
• Europe: Traditional dollhouse and pretend cooking games focused on daily routines.

Across cultures, pretend play teaches children how to live with others — turning imagination into understanding.

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💌 Closing Words

Sogup Nori shows that the heart of play lies in care and connection.
With nothing more than dirt, leaves, and imagination, children built a world of warmth and belonging.
It reminds us that before we learn to work, we first learn to care — through play.

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📌 Note
This is a creative cultural content from the Misojieum Story Blog (kor-telling.com).
Please do not copy without permission.
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