GAMES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

EL RELOJ (from El Salvador)
(Pronounced EHL-ray-LOH, meaning "clock") Have twelve girls form a circle, with a thirteenth girl standing in the middle with a long skipping rope. Then as the central girl swings the rope around in a circle close to the ground, the other players call out the numbers on the clock face and jump over the rope as it passes. If they miss and get 'tagged' by the rope, they're out. The last girl remaining gets to be the next one in the centre of the circle! We tried calling out numbers in both English and Spanish: one - uno; two - dos; three - tres; four - cuatro; five - cinco; six - sies; seven - siete; eight - ocho; nine - nueve; ten - diez; eleven - once; twelve - doce.

********************************************************************************

SPEAKING ARABIC (Egypt)
Materials: For each group, a copy of the following story as well as a copy of the ten words (in Arabic only): An Egyptian Bazaar is an exciting place to be. It is like an open-air mall with lots of things for sale. You can buy yummy __________to eat, __________if you are thirsty, _______________to wear, _________________for your feet,_ ____________to use for making clothes, and _____________for your neck, hands and ears. There is lots of noise! _____________are yelling to attract customers,_ _________________argue about the cost of their purchases and_____________ and_____________________ are running all over the place. WORDS: HILYA-T (jewellery), BAYYA' (shopkeepers), A'YILA-T (housewives), QAMAS (material). QUT (food), ALBISA-T (dresses), DAWWAB (animals), MARAKIB (shoes), MASRUBAT (drinks), ATFAL (children) Each group chooses an Arabic word to fit into each blank in the story. They could try to read it out loud first. Then the leader gives the translation of each word and each group could then read aloud the story they actually wrote, filling in the English words they chose.

********************************************************************************

SEEGA (Egypt)
Materials: Paper and pencil; three markers for each player This is a simplified children's version of a traditional game which has been played in Egypt for more than 5000 years. It is played in pairs. Players draw the board and place their markers as shown. They take turns moving one of their markers either one or two squares in any direction. A marker may not pass over another. The winner is the first player to get three markers in any straight line across, down or diagonally, as long as it is not in the players original line. (The diagram is like an X & O game and to start the markers are in the three squares at the top and the three squares at the bottom.....middle line is clear.

********************************************************************************

MORA (Italy)
"Mora" means finger in Italian. This is an old game which is very popular. Two players face each other and count in Italian, "Uno, duo, tre" and then shout out numbers between the two (this could be in English). At the same time they throw out any number of fingers on one hand. The player who accurately guesses the total number of fingers is the winner.

********************************************************************************

SILENCE IS GOLDEN (Egypt)
Divide the girls into two teams and form two circles. Chose a queen (leader) for each team. The queen lightly tickles the player on her left who then tickles the next player, and so on around the circle. When the action is all around the circle, the queen starts a new action. This continues until someone on either team makes a sound. The team which keeps silent the longest is the winning team.

********************************************************************************

CARTOUCHE NAME TAGS (Egypt)
MATERIALS: Salt clay (made from 2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 2 tablespoons mineral oil and 2 cups boiling water), gold paint, toothpicks, pictures of hieroglyphics, string. When archaeologists study hieroglyphics, they know that a cartouche, the symbol s with an oval frame around them, indicate the name of someone. Give each girl some salt clay to shape into a flat oval. Make a hole for hanging at one end. Paint with gold paint. When it is dry, use the toothpicks to scratch hieroglyphics into it. Use a piece of string through the hole to hang it around the neck.

********************************************************************************

BUILD THE LEANING TOWER (Italy)
Materials: Toothpicks and lots of miniature marshmallows The Leaning Tower is one of the three parts which make up the Cathedral of Pisa. it was built over 700 years ago and today it leans over more than four meters. Give each team a supply of toothpicks and marshmallows and challenge them to build the Leaning Tower of Pisa. See which group can build the tallest, skinniest and the one which leans over the most without actually falling over.

********************************************************************************

BOOT THROWING CONTEST (Italy)
Materials: A map of Italy, rubber boots or boots cut out of construction paper. Show a map of Italy and discuss the fact that it is shaped like a boot, then have a "Let's throw Italy" contest using a rubber boot or boots cut out of heavy paper. Who can throw Italy the farthest?

********************************************************************************

PASTA NECKLACES (Italy)
Materials: Different kinds of pasta, string, rubbing alcohol and food colouring (optional) Pasta is the Italian word for dough and Italians love it. There are more than 500 different types, each having its own shape. Some names are clever reminders of these shapes. Linguini (little tongues), farfalle (butterflies) agnolitti (little fat lambs); tortellini (little twists) and bucatini (little holes). String as many different kinds of pasts as possible and wear as a necklace. The pasta can be coloured by pouring one half teaspoon of rubbing alcohol into a plastic sandwich bag along with a few drops of food colouring. Add the pasta, sell the bag and shake until dry.

********************************************************************************

PELELE (Spain)
Materials: For each team, a blanket and a pelele (teddy bear or stuffed doll) This activity is used by Spanish children to usher in spring. Place a teddy bear on a blanket which is held around the edges by all members of the team. As the girls chant the following verse, Pelele is tossed up as high as possible into the air (one toss for each line of the poem). Pelele, Pelele your mother loves you, And your father too, We all love you, so up with you!

********************************************************************************

MOON AND MORNING STARS (Spain)
This game could be played out of doors where a tree casts a long shadow. It is played inside mark a designated area to take the place of the shadow. One player is chosen to be the moon of IT, while the others are morning stars. The morning stars can run anywhere but the moon must always keep at least one foot inside the shadow. The stars run close to tease the moon. When the moon tags on of the morning stars, that player becomes the next moon.

********************************************************************************

HOOPS (Greece)
Materials: A hoop and a ball for each person. Divide the players into two teams. Each person has a small ball. One girl from each team is chosen to roll the hoop in front of the opposite team and those players try to throw their ball through the hoop without touching the sides. One point is scored for each successful throw. Then the other team tries.

********************************************************************************

OLYMPIC BALL (Greece)
Materials: A ball for each team. Divide the girls into teams. Each team makes two lines facing each other. Two teams play against each other. The ball is tossed back and forth between the two lines of the same team. If a player drops the ball, the other team scores five point. The first team to get 50 points wins.

********************************************************************************

AESOP'S FABLES (Greece)
Materials: Book with Aesop's fables Read, tell or help the girls to dramatise some of Aesop's fables and discuss the morals. Some suitable fables include The Hare and the Tortoise (slow and steady wins the race), The Lion and the Mouse (Even the weak can be strong, or The Shepherd's Boy and the Wolf (people will not believe a liar, even when he tells the truth) Try charades with other well know proverbs; Honesty is the best policy, Kindness is better than cruelty, look before you leap, haste makes waste, etc.

********************************************************************************

CHEF MANDA (The Chief Orders...) (Brazil)
This is the Brazilian form of "Simon Says". One girl is chosen to be the speaker. She stands in front of all the others and gives orders for the others to follow. For example, she says, "The chief orders you to laugh" Everyone laughs. If she says instead, "(S)he orders you to laugh", none of the players should laugh. The consequences for following an order that the "chief" did not give are to drop out. Seem familiar?

********************************************************************************

PAILITO VERDE (Green Stick) (Colombia)
The person who is "it' carries a green stick or some such object. The other players form a standing circle facing inward, with hands behind their back. The girl who is 'it' walks around the outside of the circle and randomly select someone as chaser by putting the 'stick' in the chosen girl's hand. If the chaser touches the girl who was it before she gets fully around the circle, then 'it' must be 'it' again. Otherwise the chaser becomes 'it'.

********************************************************************************

MAH KHA DIEW (Thailand)
Mah Kha Diew (pronounced mah kah DEE-o) is a tag game using your feet. The name of the game actually means, "horse with one leg". Number of players: 4 or more What you'll need: chalk How to play: 1.Draw a circle with chalk. Make it large enough for all the players to hop in and out of a diameter 3 to 6 feet (1 to 3 meters). 2.Choose somebody to be it. 3.It stands inside the circle. 4.Players move in and out of the circle by hopping. 5.Players inside the circle can be tagged by It. But It can only use her foot. 6.As It tries to tag the players, they can run inside the circle or hop to get out of it. 7.Once It tags a player, that player becomes It. Found in Games Around the World. The Brownies and many Juniors seemed to enjoy the tag game. However, other Juniors and most Cadets preferred Thai jacks played with pebbles/stones that fit in your hand. Pick 5 stones and throw them on the ground. Now select another stone. Throw this in the air and pick up a stone. Do this for each stone, i.e., ones-y. When you get them all, take the stones in your hand. Flip your hand tossing them up in the air and catch the stones. The number of stones you catch is how many points you get. Do this for 2s, 3s,... Found in Jacks Around the World.