10/40 Window Games

MELON GAME

While educational institutions continue to promote literacy, the art of storytelling is a flourishing past time in Afghanistan.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:

4 or more

MATERIALS:

Small carpet

DIRECTIONS:

All players sit in a circle, and one of them begins to tell a story. The story can be either a folktale that everyone knows or a made-up story, but it cannot be a story about something that really happened. When the first storyteller has told a short bit of the tale, he stops suddenly. The next player must continue the story, and so on around the circle. If a player says something that does not make sense, contradicts an earlier part of the story, or cannot think of what to say next, he is out of the game. A player who is out of the game is wrapped in a small carpet and rolled back and forth several times!

 

SEARCHING FOR THE LEADER

The Bangladeshis live on small parcels of land, in simple homes that are often clustered together. There is a courtyard in the middle of the communities where everyone gathers for recreation and games.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:

5 or more

MATERIALS:

None

DIRECTIONS:

Have all the children sit in a circle. One child is selected and asked to leave the room. In the meantime the remaining children choose a leader. The group must repeat the actions done by the leader without giving a hint of who the leader is to the child who left the room and returned. If the child is not able to find the leader with the actions done by the group, then he will be given a punishment such as being asked to sing a song, etc.