Galimoto

Have you ever made a flower crown or folded a paper airplane? All around the world, children create fun pastimes by using the objects around them. One example of this is a galimoto (GAL-lee-moe-toe; meaning “car” in Chichewa, Malawi’s national language). A galimoto is a small toy model of a car, plane, bike, or other moving object made from repurposed materials, such as wire scraps and bits of rubber. This galimoto was made in Malawi, a country in Southern Africa. Galimotos are built by children in many different countries in Southern Africa. In fact, if you go to markets in Southern Africa, you might find galimotos for sale! Galimotos are especially popular because they are made from recycled materials, meaning that they are not very expensive to make, depending on how many materials one is able to repurpose. Making a galimoto requires a lot of creativity because the builder has to be able to see the potential of materials that other people might have just thrown away.