COMENIUS MULTILATERAL PARTNERSHIPLET’S KEEP THE MEMORIES ALIVE

2008 – 2010

Traditional games

"This project has been funded with support from the European Commission."

"This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the

information contained therein".

Old-time Fun and Games in Poland

…still joyfully played

‘No Equipment’ Games

The game is supposed to kill boredom on long afternoons we spend by the seaside, river banks or at the lakeside. The rule is simple – it’s just throwing little flat stones on the water surface in such a way that they jump few times before they will finally sink. The best result recorded was when ”the duck” jumped 86 meters. It made 56 jumps before it sank!

Puszczanie kaczekJumping Ducks

‘No Equipment’ Games

Tomato is a popular children’s game still played in kindergartens or first classes of primary schools. It requires at least 2 players but there can be much more. Of all the players one person is chosen to be the TOMATO. Other players will ask the TOMATO bunch of silly questions and will try to make the poor TOMATO laugh. To each question the TOMATO has to answer …”Tomato”. It is also forbidden for him/her to laugh during the game. The game can end in two ways:

-the TOMATO will not resist and laugh or answer a question differently that required,-the TOMATO will be such a good player that others will give up.

Other variation of the game is when it is TOMATO who asks questions and others have to answer ”Tomato”. If they don’t, they have to give the TOMATO a personal item as a reward. You can bail the item back by performing tasks given you by the TOMATO. It can be singing a song or doing some simple gymnastics, etc.

PomidorTomato

Team Games

Cap game was an extremely popular playground or street game over 30 years ago. The most important element of the game are beer bottle tops. The idea of the game is to perform a race of caps on a track (often with obstacles). You move the caps by snapping your fingers. The caps have to be weighted for the race: you sink them in wax or put some plasticine on them. In the 80-ties it was very popular to decorate the caps with flag of countries cut out of atlases or encyclopaedias [sic!] so that they could pretend to be rivals in international races.

There are many different variations of the game:1st – players throw the caps on the wall. The cap which lands the closest to the wall is the winner. The player can take cap as a reward from each of his rivals.2nd – players compete in the race but additionally they are trying to „snap” the rivals cap out of track.3rd – the most popular is the obstacle race. Players take turns and snap their caps on a track. The one who crosses the finish line first is the winner.

Gra w kapsleCap Game

Open-air Team Games

PODCHODY is a kind of a simple field game often played on school or scout camps. Players are divided into two equal groups. One of the groups are runaways. On their way they leave arrows, clues and task (written on small papers) for the other group – the chasers. The chasers wait 15-30 minutes before they will start to follow the runaways. The aim of the game is to fulfil all the tasks and to find the runaways.

- The runaways win if the tasks are not fulfilled correctly,- The chasers win if they catch the runaways before they cross the finish line of ”the race”.

To play PODCHODY you need: felt-tip pens, pieces of paper, some thread to hang the letters on the trees and bushes, if you play it in the city – some chalk to draw arrows on the pavements and streets. You can play it in the city or in the woods (the arrows there are made of twigs or drawn on the sand).

PodchodyCreeping game

TWO FIRES is a open-air game for two teams equal in number (the number can vary from 3 to even 20 in one team).To play the game you need to prepare a special field of at least 100 m2, rectangular in shape. The field needs to be divided into two equal parts so that both teams can move on their own part. What you also need for TWO FIRES is a volley ball.Each team chooses one person to be their MOTHER (the captain) – this person will stand behind the opponents’ field.

The idea of the game is to hit the opponents with the ball in order to eliminate them. But there are also strict rules about it: no team member (except the MOTHER) can cross the line of their field. The MOTHER’S job is to stand behind the opponents field and catch balls that are crossing the line of the field. She can also hit the players. The player is eliminated if the ball hits him/her and then falls on the ground. The players who have been eliminated become MOTHER’S helpers. The team in which all the players have been eliminated, loses the whole game. There is also another possibility to play the game – if team loses all the players, MOTHER stands in the field and fights. When she’s been hit 3 times, the game is lost for her team.

Dwa ognieTwo Fires

Open-air Team Games

It is a little children’s game. It’s good for a larger number of players. At the beginning of the game all the players are sitting in a circle. They chose one person who will be walking around the circle behind the others backs with a handkerchief in his/her hands. During the walk everybody is singing a simple chant:

Mam chusteczkę haftowaną, co ma cztery rogi,kogo kocham, kogo lubię rzucę mu pod nogi.Tej nie kocham, tej nie lubię, tej nie pocałuję,a chusteczkę haftowaną tobie podaruję.

The walking person has to throw the handkerchief behind somebody’s back and running around all the players quickly in order to take the chosen player’s place. The chosen person has to do the same running in the opposite direction.Another, very popular variation of the game is to throw away the handkerchief to a players you would like to kiss!

Mam chusteczkę haftowanąI’ve got an embroidered handkerchief

Chant Games

One of the players is the BEAR. He/she sits in the middle of a circle pretending to be asleep and other players walk around him singing:

Stary niedźwiedź mocno śpi, (children leap one time)stary niedźwiedź mocno śpi. (one leap)My się go boimy, na palcach chodzimy Jak się zbudzi to nas zje, (one leap)Jak się zbudzi to nas zje. (one leap)Pierwsza godzina niedźwiedź śpi,Druga godzina niedźwiedź chrapie,trzecia godzina niedźwiedź łapie!!!

When the chant is finished all the players run around the place because the BEAR has woken up. Now the BEAR’S task is to catch one of the players. The child caught by him/her becomes the BEAR and the game starts all over again.

Stary niedźwiedź mocno śpiThe old bear is sleeping tight

Chant Games

Other Games

It’s a very simple modification of popular chasing game. One kid is chosen to be CIUCIUBABKA. He/she gets his/her eyes blinded with a scarf. Other children shout: „Łap nas!” („Catch us!”). After that CIUCIUBABKA starts chasing other kids.

If he/she succeeds and catches a ‘runaway’ he/she can unfold the blind on the eyes and pass it to the kid. Now the fugitive becomes the hunter!

CiuciubabkaBlind man's buff

Other Games Gra w klasyHop-scotch Game

It’s a game played mostly by girls. The rules are very simple. All you need is a piece of chalk and a pebble. Using the chalk draw on the pavement a figure resembling a man. Divide it into 7-8 parts and number them. Your job now is to throw a pebble on number 1 part and jump on one leg on the rest of the parts ( you can’t jump on no 1!), and back. When you reach no 1 you pick up the pebble and finish the jumping.

The most important thing is to jump with spread legs on „arms” and „head” of the figure. If you do that successfully you can throw the stone on no 2 – the sequence repeats except now you can’t jump on no 2.

Other GamesZabawy na trzepaku

Beating carpets frame crazies

This game requires only your imagination. But caution! To play it you must be very careful because it’s dangerous. You can’t play it without an obvious equipment – a frame for beating carpets. It helps also when you’re good in gymnastics.

The idea of the game is to perform as many complicated gymnastics evolutions as possible, like somersaults and such using the frame.

TRADITIONAL GAMES

Italy

JAM E SALAM

This game consists in reaching and concluding a path. Those who take part in it have to draw

on the street eight squares numbering them from one to eight. The player throws a stone

on the number one, then they have to jump on one leg and have to go throw the path without

either putting the other leg on the floor or touching the lines that sign it. After having finished it he has to launch the stone on the

following number. The turn ends when a player misses or mistakes in throwing in the stone or

on the other number. The winner is he who goes throw it first.

PITRU’DD (little stones)It is played with five stones and there are six levels. The game

consists in throwing one stone in the air(about 20-30 cm) and picking

another one before the one in the air returns in your hands ; you carry on until you finish all the stones in the hand you must have all five of

them.

CARRETTONE

The game is a home made “car” made with some pieces of wood to form the body of it; with some small

wheels and a rope as steering wheel. the race takes place

downhill, do you want to know how to brake ? with your feet or if you

aren’t afraid of the hospital, you can stop next to a wall.

MAZZAJULO

The game consists in hitting with a stick, previously made, a little piece of wood which has its ends as a pyramid. When it is hit on the end, it jumps in the air and in the meantime, before it touches ground you must hit it to launch it far. The winner is he who hits it further.

Playing with marblesRealisation premises:

4-6 players, A small hole in the ground6 marbles for each player

Rules: Players try to get all of their marbles into the hole in the ground throwing one after another from the distance of about 0,5 metre. If player succeds, he gets to throw again. Otherwise another player takes turn.Game lasts until all balls are in the hole.

MikadoRealisation premises:4 players at most25 spillikins (colored sticks made from wood or plastic)

Rules:The spillikins are freely thrown on one pile. Players pull out as much spillikins as they can without moving other spillikins. Each color has some amount of points. Three are for 7 points, five are for 5 points, seven are for 3 points, others are for 1 point.

The ClosetRealisation premises:Joker cards (without jokers)4 players

Rules:On the top of

unorganized pile of cards a caret from two cards is built.

Players try to pull out as much single cards as possible. The player with most cards win.

Chair danceRealisation premises:16 players15 chairs

Rules:Players dance to the music around the chairs, when the music stops, the players must sit down on the chairs. The one who remaines standing loses. Game is played until there is only one player left (trick is, that there must be always one more person than number of chairs)

Playschool

Realisation premises: One small stone for each playerPattern drawn on the ground

Rules: The player throws the stone

inside square one. After that he hops into each square, after reaching square 8, he returns same way back and picks the stone up. Then he throws into square 2, then 3...until number 8. The first player who does all the levels is the winner

Playschool

Special Rules of the Game

If there are two squares together, player has to jump landing with one foot in each square; but if there is only one square, he must hop on one foot. The player can't put his/her foot or feet on the lines of the squareThe player can't fall down.

Blindman's buff

Realisation premises:

One handkerchief or a cloth more than three people to play

Rules:One child is chosen to „be blind“ with cloth over the eyes, others run around and „the blind“ has to catch somebody and gues who that person is. If the blind is right, that person becomes the new blind.

Hide and seek

Rules:

One player is chosen to be seeker. He counts from one to ten with his eyes closed, so that everyone could quickly run and hide somewhere. He starts searching for the other children. If he finds someone, he runs to one chosen place, touches the place and tells the name of the player he has found. He has to find every player, then he joins others and first one who was found becomes the new seeker

Portuguese Traditional

Games

Playing in the pastIn those days life was less stressful and television or computer games were not the main entertainment.

Children would mostly play with toys built by themselves or bought for special occasions

Games commonly played during break time at school

“Macaca” Hopscotch• Children draw grids on the sidewalk or on

the ground and then jump or hop from one end of the grid to the other.

“Pião” Spinning Top• Roll up the string around the top and

throw it to the floor.• Try to knock over the other players' tops .• The person whose top is spinning in the

end is the winner.

“Jogo do Lencinho” Handkerchief Game

• Form a circle of players facing each other. • A person will go around on the outside of the

circle and will drop a handkerchief behind one of the other players.

• After finding the handkerchief, that person has to chase after the person that dropped it.

• The first one to sit in the empty spot wins.

“Cabra-Cega” Blind Goat• One person is blindfolded in the middle of a

circle and spins around twice .• The other players mingle around him.• The blindfolded person has to catch a player

and guess who he / she is .• If the guess is correct, they exchange places, if

it isn’t , he keeps on trying.

“Jogo do anel” The Ring Game• The players sit in a circle with their hands out

stretched and closed. • One participant hides a ring between his

hands and goes by each player trying to let it drop in their closed hands.

• A player is named to guess who has the ring.• If he guesses right, they exchange places, if he

doesn’t ,the one who has the rings goes to the middle and repeats the game.

Skipping rope • One or more people jump over a rope swung so

that it passes under the feet and over the heads.• Jump-rope rhymes are often chanted beginning

when the skipper jumps in and ending when the skipper is tripped up.

“Caçadinha” Tag and Chase

• The object is to tag, or touch, other players who are then out of the game. Usually one player is 'it' and has to chase and tag the other players, one of whom then becomes the new person who is 'it' .

“Escondidinhas” Hide and Seek• Someone is picked to be “it” (the person to

seek) then he/she turns around and counts with their eyes closed at the "base" while the rest of the people hide.

• Then "It" says "Ready or Not, Here I Come" and rushes to find everyone.

• Everyone tries to get to base without getting tagged or else they are "It".

“CARICA” Caps game• Draw a track or a curved path on the ground• Each player must push his bottle cap to the

other end of the runway, without passing the lines that define the track.

“Berlindes” Marbles• Draw a circle in the ground and three holes

inside.• Take turns shooting your marble from outside

the ring into each hole. After succeeding, you can now try to eliminate your partners.

• Use the Shooters (bigger marbles) to knock out or drive other marbles out of the ring.

Competition Games

“Corrida do saco” Sack Racing• Each participant places himself inside a sack,

grabbing it on each side of the waist.• At the signal, the players jump forward from a

starting point toward a finish line. • The first person to cross the finish line is the

winner.

“Corrida da batata ou do ovo”Potato or Egg race

• Each participant has a potato or an egg placed on a spoon.

• They race, carrying the spoon in their mouth without dropping anything.

“CORRIDA A TRÊS PÉS”Three-legged race

• It involves two participants attempting to complete a short sprint with the left leg of one runner strapped to the right leg of another runner. The object is for the partners to run together without falling over, and beat the other contestants to the finish line.

“Pneus ou aros” Tyres or Rings • With the help of two sticks, each player driveshis tyre along a traced path.The first to cross the finish line ends.

Tug of War • Two or more players can play it.• It is only required a long strong rope.• The purpose of a team is to pull the other

team over the borderline.

“Corrida com Andarilhos” Stilt race• Several players may participate in this game. The

equipment needed is two pieces of wooden stilt with a stepladder, the height of which is 30.48 centimeter from the ground.

• The principle of the game is to walk on stilt from a starting line to the finish line.

• The length to be travelled is a few meters.

“Jogo do Sapo” (Toad Game)

• Each player has to toss and insert a disc or bean bag into one or more of the holes , or in the toad’s mouth.

• The person who scores the most points wins.

“Jogo da Argola” (Ring Toss Game)

• At a distance, each player tosses 4 rings to loop around a stick.

• Each stick has a number (1,2,3,4 or 5). The one in the middle has the highest point.

• The person who scores the most points wins.

“Malha”• Very popular recreational game in the country.• The aim of the game is to knock down a pin or

a marker.

“Mata”• Two teams play by throwing a ball to the opposite

side, trying to kill as much opponents as possible.• The ball can also be sent to their colleague at the

end of the court.

TRADITIONAL

KIDSGAMES

TURKEY TEAM

Children's and Adult Games…

• Turkish folklore has a rich treasure of games to play at home, during chats and while visiting people.

• Children’s games are indispensable entertainments of children.

• Today as the result of changes in entertainment instruments, development of communication media, nature of games for children has been changed, moreover they have become non-played as they were used to be played in the past.

KÖREBE

• One person is chosen to be 'it' , and then the eyes of that kid are covered with a kind of blindfold. When the game starts, the person who is 'it' —the blindfolded person—tries to catch the other kids. If someone is caught, that child becomes the new 'it' , and the game starts over. Every child in Turkey knows this game!

Uzuneşek(Long Donkey )

• What are these boys doing? Actually it is an entertaining

traditional Turkish game played in two teams. There are donkey team and jumpers team. Jumpers try to crash the donkey line by jumping on them. If they become successful they get the points. There is in most cases a prize like baklava or something similar to eat for the winners.

Beş Taş (Five Stones)Popular among girls .. In the palm of her

hand each girl holds five small round stones which she tosses in the air and tries to catch on the back of the hand. When four stones have fallen on the ground, one is retained in the hand and then tossed up. While it is in the air, with the same hand, she must grab the four stones that are on the ground and catch the one tossed before it reaches the ground. Then one stone is again tossed in the air and the four stones on the ground are grabbed one by one, each grab being preceded by the tossing and catching of a stone that is retained in the hand. This is repeated, grabbing two by two, then three and one, and then all together.

Yakan Top (Burning Ball)• The children are divided into two

and a line is drawn in the middle.• The members of the opposite group

tries to shoot the ones in the middle .If you catch the ball in the air ,you have a so called “right”.If you are hit you start to shoot the ones in the middle.

İSTOP GAME

• The children are in circle.One tosses the ball and call a name …

• If that person catches the ball in the air ,she calls another name.If she can not catch ,she names a color and shoots who can not find and touch that color around and becomes a new “it”.

Fortune Telling Game

• Here's how to tell a fortune: Ask a person to pick a color from the four outside flaps. Place your thumbs and index fingers into the 4 flaps.

• Have the person pick a number from inside and open and close again that number of times. Have them pick a number again and open up the triangle with the fortune written inside.

SEVEN TOWERS GAME

• .

SEVEN TOWERS GAME

• Seven tiles are put out, divided into 2 groups of children hit by that ball and try to overthrow. The other group collects the first period will win the right to strike. The group collects most people wins shoth wins the game round-trip.

TAB TAB GAME

• .

TAB TAB GAME

Known by everyone is the game tab tab. After finishing the first round makes the final turn into the head. After double-leg round-trip expenses primarily one foot and finished writing the name into the frames starts. Someone else's box before pressing the finish

Romanian Traditional Games

Many of the traditional games have been created by ordinary people and transmitted from person to person for many generations.

The traditional games reflect the culture of each

country.

The children’s games are not the same everywhere.

Hopscotch (Şotron)

Hopscotch is a children's game which can be played with several players or alone.

It is a popular

playgame.

To play Hopscotch, a course is first laid out on the ground. Designs vary, but the course is usually composed of a series of linear squares interspersed with blocks of two lateral squares.

Traditionally the course ends with a "safe" or "home" base in which the player may turn before completing the reverse trip. The home base may be a square, a rectangle, or a semicircle. The squares are then numbered in the sequence in which they are to be hopped.

Each player has a marker such as a stone, beanbag, bottle cap, shell, button, etc.

The first player stands behind the starting line to toss her or his marker in square All hopping is done on one foot unless the hopscotch design is such that two squares are side-by-side. Then two feet can be placed down with one in each square. A player must always hop over any square where a marker has been placed.

A player is out if the marker fails to land in the proper square, the hopper steps on a line, the hopper loses balance when bending over to pick up the marker and puts a second hand or foot down, the hopper goes into a square where a marker is, or if a player puts two feet down in a single box. The player puts the marker in the square where he or she will resume playing on the next turn, and the next player begins.

Sometimes a dome-shaped "rest area" is added on one end of the hopscotch pattern where the player can rest for a second or two before hopping back through.

Ducks and Hunters(Raţele şi vânătorii)

8 or more children can play this game.

There are 2 hunters, one standing on one side an the other on the opposite side.

The other children play the ducks.

The hunters throw a ball towards the children playing the ducks. The ducks have to avoid being hit by the ball. The duck hit by the ball is out of the game.

The last child who managed to avoid the ball has to tell the hunters his age. A hunter tries to throw the ball at the duck as many times as the years of his age. The child has to avoid the ball moving rapidly to protect himself.

If the hunter succeeds in touching the child with the ball, the first

child who was out of the game and the last child among the ducks become hunters. If the hunter doesn’t touch the duck with the ball, the ducks become hunters and viceversa.

Elastics (Elastic)• This was a real girls’ game that left everybody with scuffed knees

and sorted the men from the boys (so to speak). One needed great jumping skills and supreme concentration to excel at this game, and those who achieved the highest levels had serious respect in the playground.

• To play Elastics, a really long piece of elastic was necessary - the kind that's about 5mm wide - or, more likely, several pieces all tied together to make a big loop of elastic. A good size for playing with three people would be about three meters long.

• To play properly, a minimum of three players was needed, but it was also possible to play with 2 players and a bin (or in extreme desperation one person and two stools). All players but one would stand inside the loop in order to stretch it around their ankles.

• After a round of all the jump types above had been completed successfully, the height of the elastic would be raised (obviously increasing the difficulty of the jumps).

• If the current player failed to execute the correct jump their turn was over and the next to play would be one of the people inside the circle of elastic, who would then try to outdo the previous player.

Country, Country, We Want Soldiers!(Ţară, ţară, vrem ostaşi!)

Country, Country, We Want Soldiers! is a game in which the participants are divided in two teams and the aim is capturing soldiers from the opponent team.

The number of players may vary. In order to make the game more interesting, at least ten participants are needed. They are then divided in two teams.

The players from one team shout “Country, country, we want soldiers!" and the others answer: “Who?" Then a player among those in the second team is chosen. Those who asked for a soldier hold their hands tight and try to stop the one they asked for. The soldier runs towards them throwing himself against the chain thus formed, pointing the its weakest point.

If the running soldier succeeds in dividing his opponents thus breaking the chain, he has the right to take one of the defeated soldiers with him and to get him into his team. If he fails in breaking “the wall”, he has to pass to the opponent team.

In the following round, the teams inverse their role. The game ends when only one soldier is left in one of the teams.

As in any game, some tense moments might show up. One of these consists in the participants’ “betrayal”. The soldier chosen to run may avoid hitting the opponents with all his power in order to pass to their team.

On the other hand, those who are supposed to defend themselves may let the soldier break the wall on purpose so that one of them changes their team.

Hide and Seek (De-a v-aţi ascunselea)

For this game at least three players are needed.

First you pick someone to be the seeker. Then the seeker turns around and counts with his / her eyes closed while the rest of the people hide.

The seeker says "Ready or Not, Here I Come" and rushes to find everyone. Then the people try to get to initial point without getting tagged or else they are out of the game.

Touching the base area makes a hider safe, and the aim of the game is to touch base without being tagged. The seeker continues to search for hiders and if he/she finds none then he is the seeker again in the next game.

The cordless phone(Telefonul fără fir)

It is an interactive game.

At least 4 participants are needed.

The players sit next to each other, forming a line.

The bigger number of players, the funnier the game.

The first child whispers a word into the ear of the child sitting next to him / her. The second child whispers it quickly to the next child and so on, until the last child has to say out loud the word he heard, even if this word makes no sense whatsoever.

As the word has to be whispered very quickly, most of the times the initial word is transformed until it gets the final recipient in a wholly different word.

Then the children switch places, the last in the line moving to be the first and so on.

There is no winner at this game, but everybody has a lot of fun.

The Pheasant(Fazan)

It is a well-known game which stimulates the language skills and the memory.

The game begins when one of the participants says the alphabet to himself, in his mind. One of the other players says "stop" and the letter where the one saying the alphabet arrived to is the letter to begin a word with.

The player says a word formed of at least three letters and the others must form another word whose first two letters have to be identical with the last two letters of the word previously said, for example: first letter C - cucumber – second word: error – third word: oracle

When a player no longer knows or can no longer build a word with the syllable received, he or she is “F” (from “fazan”). Each player is allowed 5 mistakes and they accumulate penalty points, A, Z, A, N.

When leaving the game, the players wear the well-deserved name of “pheasant”. No use of names or linking words is allowed. The same words cannot be repeated within the same game.

Have fun playing!

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THANK YOU

Work done for the Comenius Project

“Let’s Keep the

Memories Alive”