Let Us Play.

       Some time ago our class researched games from around the world to give us an idea of how children from different cultures played. Individually, we found games from places like Australia, Chile, and Italy. As a group we learned about the games, and had the opportunity to play them; an exciting and educational experience. Essentially this is an exercise in diversity, something we must all understand and embrace. Our class itself is somewhat diverse, with members from Saudi Arabia, the American Mid-West and Mid-Atlantic, and Cajun Country.

One member, Nia (standing in the photo) brought in a game from Chile called Corre, Corre, la Guaraca which is similar to Duck, Duck, Goose. The participants sit in a circle facing one another.  One participant circles the group with a handkerchief, and drops it gently on one of the people in the circle. When that child feels the handkerchief, he or she must get up and try to tag the other before the handkerchief dropper can sit in the open place.

Greg S. brought us a game from Mexico called Colorina. Colorina. This is a two part game using beans and something to catch them in, such as a hole in the ground, or a bowl. To play, everyone takes a certain number of beans, enough to hold in one hand. You then take turns trying to throw your handful of beans into the hole (or bowl). THEN you take the beans that actually made it into the hole, place them in your hand, quickly toss them into the air, flip your hand over nad see how many land on the back of your hand. Frustrating! The winner is the who caught the greatest number of beans.

My contribution was a little game from Italy called Lupo delle ore. This game requires a minimum of 3 players, although groups of 7 players are ideal. One player is the "lupo" ("wolf"), and stands with his back to the others, who form a line at a designated distance from him. The players call out "Lupo che ore sono?" ("Wolf, what time is it?"), and the wolf answers with a number. The players can then take that many steps toward him, and ask again. If, instead of a number, the wolf responds with "Ho fame!" ("I'm hungry!"), he can turn around and try to tag as many of the children as he can before they make it safely back to the starting line.