TRADITIONAL CHILDRENS GAMES

• E-BOOK "TRADITIONAL CHILDREN'S GAMES 

          FROM TURKEY, SPAIN AND POLAND"

E-BOOK TRADITIONAL POLISH GAMES

Name of the game – Paper Chase

Number of participants – 3 – 20

Materials – ribbon, markers, pens, drawingpads 

Rules of the game: Children are divided into two groups; those who chase and those who escape. The chasing group starts off 15-30 mins after the escaping group. The objective is to find and solve all the tasks left by the first group. The escaping team wins if the tasks are not solved. The chasing team wins if they catch the escaping team before the escaping team reaches the final point of the race. To be played outdoors.

Name of the game – Blind Man’s Buff 
Numbers of participants – unlimited number 
Materials – ribbon or a piece of material 

Rules of the game: One kid is chosen  to be the Blind Man’s Buff. That kid is blindfolded and stands in the middle of the circle. The remaining participants surround the Blind Man’s Buff in a circle. Next they all move around the Blind Man’s Buff 3 times and then they disperse and run away. The person who is the Blind Man’s Buff catches the next Blind Man’s Buff without taking off the blindfold and tries to catch her/his name. This continues until all players are out of the game.

Name of the game – Hopscotch

Numbers of participants – 2 or more (several players)
Materials – chalk, a stick, or a pebble

Rules of the game: Draw a shape resembling a mushroom or a boy  on the pavement or on the ground. Then divide it into 1-10  sections (9 squares and a circle marked with numbers from one to ten).The child who goes first throws the pebble in square number 1. If s/he aims well s/he may start hopping. Then the kid must  hop onto each square  with one foot in each or 2 feet on the double square. Upon reaching the “head” the kid should make a jump with a turn and return, while picking up the pebble on her/his way back. Next s/he throws the pebble aiming at the following square and so on. If the player doesn’t throw the stone onto the right square or steps on the line s/he loses her/his turn.

Name of the game – Hide and seek 

Numbers of participants – 2 or more (several players)

Materials – no materials needed

Rules of the game: One person counts off with their eyes closed, while the rest hide. At the end of the count off the person who is seeking says “ready or not here I come!” and starts looking for the others. The hidden kids must reach the base before being found by the seeker. The last person to be found is the winner of the game. The first one to be found becomes the seeker.

Name of the game – Dodgeball
Numbers of participants – 2 groups (3 – 20 participants in each group)
Materials – ball

Rules of the game: The aim of this game is to tag people from the opposite team with a ball.  The players, except for the “Mum,” are not allowed to leave their part of the field. The “Mum, positioned in the back of the field takes over every ball that leaves the opponents field, and s/he may also tag people. A tag occurs when the thrown ball hits a player from the opposite team and then falls to the ground. The tagged player leaves the field. The team left without any players looses.

Name of the game – Tag
Numbers of participants – unlimited number (2 or more)
Materials – scarf

Rules of the game: One person becomes a tag and her/his  task is to catch other players by touching  the person with a hand. A tag makes a touched player another  tag.

Name of the game – Chinese jump rope

Numbers of participants – 3 or more

Materials – rope

Rules of the game: Firstly  two children must put on the rope around the ankles. The third child jumps in the rope with both feet. Then the child jumps out of the rope with both legs straddling each outside the rope. Next, the child jumps from side to side. Then the child jumps on the rope. Then out again. The player jumps until he makes a mistake.

 

Name of the game – Tomato

Numbers of participants – 2 or more

Materials – no materials needed

Rules of the game: Everyone sits in a circle. The person who is “the tomato” stands in the center of the circle. Each person asks him different questions. The only answer to every question can be tomato. The first person who makes the “tomato” laugh wins.

Name of the game – Sophie or Hackey sack 

Number of participants – unlimited

Materials – sophie – a sack made of wool or a piece of cloth filled with e.g. sand 

Rules of the game: Sophie – supposedly this game dates back to our grandparents’ time. A few players stand in a circle and try to keep the sack off the ground for as long as possible, without using their hands. The player who keeps “the sophie” off the ground the longest, by kicking it most frequently is the winner.

Name of the game – Bottle caps race 
Number of participants – 2-4,5
Materials – bottle caps 

Rules of the game: Race – the players flip their caps onto the track one by one. The player who first reaches the finish line of the track with his/her caps is the winner. To be played outdoors- on the pavement or in the sandpit.