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Looking for typical games in European countries - who can help?
Dear colleagues in Europe,
I �m looking for simple childrens � games that are typical of your countries. Something your pupils (10-16) like to play during breaks or at birthday parties. Indoors or outdoors, it doesn �t matter.
I �m talking about games that do not need a lot of material or preparation or complicated rules and that can be introduced at a big school party dealing with other European countries.
I �d be very grateful if you could give me a descripton of such a game (or maybe a link) played in your country that can easily be taught in another country.
-"gra w gumę" - a game in which you jump over a stretched elastic band, there are various combinations of moves one has to perform :) http://instrukcja.pl/i/jak_skakac_w_gume_gra_w_gume -hopscotch -hide and seek -tag -tresure hunt -blind man �s buff -various games with a ball -darts -"raz dwa trzy Babajaga patrzy" -
One person is
Babajaga (the witch), the rest of the children stand in a line behind him/her. Babajaga coveres his/her eyes with their hands and repeats the
words one, two, three, Babajaga looks. At that time,
children run toward her. After these Babajaga words loiks back. Children need to stand stiff and not move. If
Babajaga sees one has moved he/she has to go back tothe
"start" line, and the rest remains in place. Babajaga says one, two, three, Babajaga looks again. The one to come first to Babajaga
wins and becomes a new Babajaga.
I remember all those games from my childhood. I reckon now children may play a bit different games.
We have the same game as the Babajaga game in the US. We call it "red light, green light", except is is a little more random. The child who is "it" says "green light" and the others run. Then "it" says "red light" at any random time (not counting, as in Babajaga) and immediately turns around. This gives the runners no warning as to when they must stop.
Thanks for the video of "gra w gumę". This was popular in the US 50 years ago, but I have no idea what it was called. I haven�t seen it recently, though.
I �ve just remembered that there is also a game called Zośka (Sophie). Older children, especially boys may find it interesting. It �s still quite popular. You can find a description here.
That �s amazing :-) But, to be honest, when I was a child we called it "klasy" (hopscotch). I have never heard the name "chłopek" before. I guess it depends on the region of the country. Anyway, good to know.
Here in Russia we play sometimes team games. 1) For this game you need a spoon and a small ball (like for table tennis). Divide kids in two or three teams. Draw a start line. Give the first person in a team a spoon with a ball in it. Children have to run with the ball in their spoon to some obstacle, for example chair, run around it and return to their team and give the spoon to the next playr. Players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands. The team to finish firts wins.
There different variations of this game, the players can run around the obstacle with a book on their heads. This time they are not allowed to touch the book with their hands.
Or they can jump around the obstacle with a ballon between their legs. Kids of different ages love these games.
2) For this game you need a big plastic glass or smth like this and 5-6 small balls (table tennis balls) for each pair. Players stand at their line (the distance might vary for different ages from 50cm to 1,5 m) One player has a glass and another player has ball. The aim is to catch as many ball as they can.