Three kinds of childhood
There is no single Mongolian childhood. A child in a herding family, a child in a district-center boarding school and a child in an Ulaanbaatar apartment can have very different days, even if they are cousins. What they share is a strong family framework, a high value placed on education, and a culture that treats children as full members of the household from an early age.
Childhood in a herding family
In a herding camp, children usually learn by joining in. Small tasks come early: carrying fuel, fetching water, watching lambs and kids, helping with milking, and passing tea to guests. The routines that adults call daily chores are, for a child, simply the way the day is organized.
Riding is a good example. Many rural children learn to ride very young, and it is common to see children handling Mongolian horses with surprising confidence, rounding up animals or riding to a neighbor’s camp. This is a practical skill rather than a hobby, since horses help herd the other animals and cover the distances between camps. Children are also taught which animals are which, how weather affects them, and how to behave around larger livestock, knowledge that builds up gradually through observation.
Play is not forgotten. Children often play games with small animal ankle bones, make toys from what is at hand, wrestle with siblings and cousins, and make up chasing and riding games. Summer, when families are most active outdoors, is often described as the most carefree season.
School when home is far away
Herding families may live a long way from the nearest school. To make education possible, many districts have schools with dormitories in the district center, and children from nearby camps live there during term. They typically go home for longer holidays, especially in summer, when many help with the family’s work.
This arrangement has benefits and costs. It gives rural children access to formal schooling and exposes them to peers and, increasingly, to technology. On the other hand, living apart from parents at a young age can be hard, particularly for the youngest, and arrangements vary with the age of the child and the distance involved. Some families move closer to a district center or send an older relative to stay with younger children. Others split the household, with one parent staying in town while the other moves with the herd. Conditions in dormitories and schools differ between districts, and it is best not to generalize.
Growing up in the city
In Ulaanbaatar, a child’s life more closely resembles that of urban children elsewhere, with some local twists. Schools are often crowded, and in some places run in more than one shift. Children study Mongolian and other subjects, with foreign languages, including English, popular with ambitious families. After school there may be private tutoring, sports, music or art clubs. Traditional pursuits such as wrestling, archery or the morin khuur are widely taught as well, and these connect city children to practices from rural life.
Children in the ger districts have a somewhat different experience from those in apartment blocks. They may help carry water, tend the stove and fetch coal, and they often play in the lanes between fenced plots. Air quality in the colder months is a real concern for families.
Holidays often reconnect urban children with the countryside. Many spend part of the summer with grandparents or relatives at a herding camp, riding horses, learning to milk and getting a firsthand sense of the life their parents or grandparents grew up in.
Family and ceremony
Older relatives play a large part in raising children. Grandparents often help with childcare, and children are taught early to greet elders and behave politely with guests. The wider idea of respect for elders is explored in its own article.
Family customs also mark milestones. A first haircut has traditionally been a small celebration, though how it is done varies by family and region, and children’s birthdays are marked in different ways depending on household habits. The Naadam festival gives children a visible public role, most famously as young riders in the horse races. Because those races involve real safety questions, it is worth reading about horse racing separately if you plan to attend.
What a visitor might notice
- Children in a camp may be shy at first, then curious, especially about visitors’ cameras or phones. Ask permission before photographing them, and check with parents first.
- If you visit a family, a child may be the one who brings tea or greets you at the door. Accept politely.
- Tourists traveling with their own kids will often find that children quickly find ways to play together without a shared language, as family travel stories from Mongolia often mention.
- Gifts for children are appreciated, but simple, practical items such as notebooks or pencils are generally more useful than sweets.
Change and continuity
Today’s Mongolian childhood is changing. Mobile phones, television and the internet reach many camps. More families are choosing to live partly in town for the sake of schooling, and some young people decide not to return to herding. At the same time, the skills of riding, caring for animals and hospitality continue to be passed along. Many Mongolians say they value having grown up with at least some exposure to the steppe, whatever work they later choose.