Playing Around The World

Children all over the world play games. Here are some for you to try.

#1. Kim's Game (England)
Girl Scouts and Girl Guides all over the world play this game. you and your friends can have fun playing it, too!
You will need:

1. Put 10 things on a table. Be sure you can cover all of them with the scarf or piece of cloth.
2. Show the players the 10 things for one minute. Then cover them up.
3. Ask the players what was on the table. See if they can list all 10 items.

#2. Red Light, Green Light (USA)
Here is one of many ways to play this game.
1. Choose someone to be "it". The person who is "it" stands at one end of the playing field, far away from the other players.
2. The other players line up along the starting line at the opposite end of the field.
3. "It" turns her back to the group and yells "green light". The players may now run toward "it".
4. When "it" yells "red light", everyone must stop running and freeze. "It" turns around right after yelling "red light". If "it" catches anyone moving, those girls go back to the starting line.
5. The game continues until someone has been able to reach and touch "it" while "it" has her back to the group.
6. That person becomes the new "it" person.

#3. Sheep and Hyena (Sudan)
See if you can keep the sheep away from the hungry hyena! Get at least 10 people to play.
1. Players join hands and form a tight circle.
2. The hyena stays outside the circle. The sheep stays inside the circle.
3. The players in the circle have to try to keep the hyena from breaking through the circle to get to the sheep. The game ends when the hyena gets the sheep or gets too tired to go after the sheep anymore.
4. Two other people become the sheep and hyena.

#4. Hawk and Hens (Zimbabwe)
This is a great chasing game for times when you have lots of energy and want to run. You will need at least four people and two safety zones.
1. One person is the hawk. All the others players are the hens.
2. The hawk stands between the safety zones and tries to catch the hens as they run back and forth from one safety zone to the other.
3. When a hen is caught, she sits on the side and watches the game.
4. The last hen to be caught by the hawk becomes the next hawk.

#5. Jan-Ken-Pon (Japan)
This is a game for two players.
1. Two players face each other with their hands behind their backs.
2. Together, they say "jan-ken-pon". On "pon" both bring a hand forward to stand for a stone (fist), paper (flat hand), or scissors (V-shaped with the index finger and middle finger).
3. Stone beats scissors because it can break them.
    Scissors beats paper because it can cut it.
     Paper beats stone because paper can wrap up a stone.
4. A player gets a point each time her hand beats the other's. The first player who gets seven points wins.

#6. Rabbit without a House (Brazil)
1. Pick someone to be "it" (the rabbit without a house) and someone to be the caller.
2. Divide the others into 3 group.
3. Each group makes a rabbit in a house by two girls holding hands (the house) and the third one (the rabbit) standing inside.
4. The caller yells "Find a house" and all the rabbits, including the one without a house, has to run to find a different house.
5. The rabbit without a house becomes it.

#7. Mr. Bear (Sweden)
1. One person is Mr. Bear. He is trying to sleep in his den.
2. The other players sneak up to Mr. Bear and whisper, "Mr. Bear, are you awake?"
3. Mr. Bear pretends not to hear them. Then the players yell, "Mr. Bear, are you awake?" This makes Mr. Bear furious! He chases them all and tries to catch them before they reach home, which is the safe place.
4. Everyone tagged by the bear before reaching home becomes one of Mr. Bears' cubs. They go back to the den with Mr. Bear.
5. When the remaining players come back to wake up Mr. Bear again, the cubs help Mr. Bear catch them as well.
6. When everyone is caught someone else becomes Mr. Bear (or the last one caught).

#8. The Ocean Is Stormy (Denmark)
This game uses the names of different fish. Do you know why this game is popular in Denmark? Find Denmark on a globe or map. you will see that it is near a lot of water.
Directions:
1. Use chalk or string to mark circles on the floor or ground.
2. Get into pairs. Each pair, except one, should stand in a circle and choose the name of a fish. The names of some fish are: sea bass, trout, perch, catfish, herring, salmon pike, flounder, porgie, sunfish, sturgeon, bluefish, and blackfish.
3. The two girls who have not chosen fish names are the whales. They walk around the outside of the circles and call out names of fish.
4. When a pair's fish name is called, they leave the circle and walk behind the whales.
5. After all fish names are called, or after the whales call all the names they can think of, the whales shout, "The oceans stormy!"
6. Then everybody rushes to find a circle. Any two girls can get into one circle.

The two girls left without a circle become the whales for the next game.

Other Helpful Links:
 http://www.fema.gov/kids/games1.htm Assortment of Games
http://dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/Games/Online/  Kids and Teen Games
http://www.indianchild.com/outdoor_games.htm  Outdoor Games
http://www.gameskidsplay.net/ Lots of outdoor games with directions!
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/3209/FunGames1.html Games for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/season/feature/famf0100boredom/famf0100boredom5.html Make a tapatan / tic-tac-toe board
http://www.juggling.org/ Juggling Information Site
 

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