Games We Played
as Children
Games of Chase and Tag
In these games, the object is
to tag, or touch, other players who are then out of the game. Usually one
player is it and has to chase and tag the other players, one of whom then
becomes the new person who is it. In other versions, players must be tagged
by a ball, sometimes thrown at the player. Here are some tag games from
Brazil, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Korea., Turkey, and Taiwan.
Queimada
Vivien Yoshikawa from Brazil
During my childhood, I liked
to play a games called Quemada because in this game you are always moving.
This game is famous in my country. You can play it from your childhood
until your adult life, and it doesn't have an age limit or a limit of players.
To play this game, you form two teams. Each team has a field and there
is a place called the cemetery. One person from each team starts in the
cemetery, so he's dead. The rest of the team starts in the field. The person
who is at the cemetery always starts the game by throwing a ball to the
opposite side where his partners are. The "living people" from this team
have to catch the ball and throw it against the other team. If someone
from the opposite team touches the ball, he is burnt, so he is dead. The
"dead ones" go to the cemetery, and the game finishes when every "living
person" from one team dies. I played this game a lot when I was around
eight years old. I would call all my friends, and we would spend all afternoon
long playing.
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to Brazilian Index Games
Mr. Daruma Fell
Down
Maki Kubo from Japan
Mr. Daruma Fell Down is well-known
as a nice game for Japanese children. It is a very simple game; however,
everyone gets excited playing it. Children can play it outside when there
are five or six friends. Of course, I always played this game with my friends
when I was a child. First, the person a tagger (the person who is it) yells
to other children, "Mr. Daruma fell down!" When the tagger yells, the other
children run as far away as possible. Then he turns his back to them. Next
he calls out again. "Mr. Daruma fell down!" After that, he turns around
and looks for the other children because he has to catch them. When a child
moves and is caught, he has to go to jail.
The other children have to
get close to the tagger and hit his back; however, they cannot move when
the the tagger looks at them. Therefore, they have to run as fast as possible
while the tagger's back is turned and he is yelling, "Mr. Daruma fell down!"
Whenever a child hits the tagger's back, other children can escape from
the jail.
But one child and the game
is almost over. In that part, the tagger is given many chances to catch
the child; he can yell quickly. When the tagger has tagged everyone, a
new game starts. Then, a new tagger is selected a a finger-flashing game.
My friend and I used to play
this game because it was exciting and we had a lot of time to play outside.
The Hunter
Mazen Al Qurawi from Saudi
Arabia
When I was a child, I played
a game like hide and seek with my friends. We loved that game and played
it almost every day. It is called The Hunter. It is a traditional game
which was played a long time ago, so my father, my grandfather, and a lot
of my relatives played it. I don't know how long it has been played, but
around 50 years at least.
HOW TO PLAY IT
Her is how we played it.
This game was played with five to ten children. First, we chose one player
to be the hunter (to be it). Then the hunter counted from one to ten with
his or her eyes closed, so that everyone could quickly run and hide somewhere.
Then he or she started searching for the other children.
If the hunter found someone
from the group, the member would try to escape and the hunter started chasing
him or her. Then, the hunter had to catch him or her. The hunter had to
find all the members in the group and tag them. If the hunter couldn't
catch all of the members, he or she had to say "clear, and start over,
but if the hunter caught all of them, he or she joined the other children
and the first one who was caught became the new hunter.
I enjoyed this game because
it was exciting and fun; we got to run and jump. Playing it, my friends
and I were able to see each other a lot and have a good time together.
Sam Pal Sun
Eun Suk Ji (Jenny) from
Korea
Sam Pal Sun means the line between
South Korea and North Korea. We usually play this game in a parking area.
There are five people on each team, and one team is the defense team and
blocks the other team to prevent them from going to the area which is marked
with a flag. Cooperation among team members is the key to winning.
In this game, we can learn
how to move fast and wisely and how to follow rules because we can't change
the rules in any case. If you are the defending team, each one on your
team has responsibility for your own line and own section. If you can't
block the other team members by tagging them, your team will lose the game.
This is a good game, not
only because it is fun but also because it gives us a lot of opportunity
to learn cooperation and responsibility.
Korebe
Tuncay Goksel from Turkey
The Turkish name for this game
is Korebe It was a very popular game among 4- to 8-year old children. The
game is played by about 5 to 10 children. At the beginning of the game,
one person is chosen to be it, and then the eyes of that kid are covered
with a kind of blindfold. When the game starts, the person who is it--the
blindfolded person--tries to catch the other kids. If someone is caught,
that child becomes the new it, and the game starts over. Every child in
Turkey knows this game!
The Knife
Justin Chen from Taiwan
In Taiwan, there is a children's
game called Hand Knife which is played by boys. The rules are as follow.
The players divide into two groups. Each group selects a base like a wall
or a tree. When the game starts, everyone uses his/her hand like a knife
to touch the head or the leg of the members of the other group. If someone
is touched, he/she is out.
However, the people who are
out can be saved. When the connection of the hands is cut by any other
member who is not out, all the members who are behind the "cut point" are
saved.
The first person of each
group has to touch the base of the enemy, and other members who are out
have to hold the hand of the first person in the line of people who are
out. When all the members of either group are out, the other group wins.
Five Session Passing
Nai-Hsin Shen from Taiwan
In my country, a game called
"Five Session Passing is played. Children draw lines on the ground forming
5 squares. The children are divided into two teams. Members of team one
should stand on the lines which are drawn, and members of team two should
stand inside the square. Those who are standing on the lines should try
to touch those who are standing inside. If someone who is standing inside
is touched by someone who is standing outside, he is out. When the time
is up, the team which has more members left wins.
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