Socha dětské hry, Sandstone sculpture in Povel, Czech Republic

Socha dětské hry is a sandstone sculpture of two seated children, a boy and a girl with a ball, carved by Karel Hořínek with Vít Adamec. It stands outdoors in Janského Street in the Povel housing estate in Olomouc, near a former self-service shop. Repairs from later damage are visible on the figures.

In 1978 the Olomouc commission of the Czech Fund of Fine Arts ordered a figurative composition for Janského Street by the self-service shop on the F2 housing estate. The original sculptor, Lubomír Janečka, withdrew over disagreements; Karel Hořínek then carved the two seated children from Maletín sandstone with Vít Adamec, and the work was approved in May 1983. It was vandalised in September 1983 and again in 1987.

The title Dětské hry means Children's Games, and the group shows a boy and a girl sitting with a ball. It was commissioned in 1978 as a figurative composition on a contemporary social theme for the housing estate, and despite its socialist-era origin the work is apolitical in tone.

The sculpture stands outdoors in Janského Street on the Povel housing estate, by the former self-service shop on panel block F2. It is freely accessible at any time, with no gate or fence. Look closely at the heads of both children: the boy's was broken off in September 1983 and the girl's in 1987, and the repairs remain visible.

The boy's head was broken off in September 1983 and the girl's head was broken off and stolen in 1987; close inspection of the sandstone still shows the repairs. The sculpture was installed in May 1983 on what was then still a building site.