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Traditional Children's Games: Games of Consequence These
games are played in groups. As a consequence of
something which happens in the game, a player must
do something silly.For example, if a spinning
bottle points to a player after it stops or a
player is left holding the ball at a given point in
the game, that player then has to pay the
consequence—usually sing a song or perform a
silly action. Here are two of these games: one from
Colombia and another from China. La Verdad, o Se Atreve (Spring the Bottle)
The game of Spin the Bottle is very popular all around the world. The rules differ in each country, but basically it is the same game. In Colombia, we play a spin the bottle game called La Verdad, o Se Atreve. You need at least four people to play this game. It is played by young people and also by adolescent people. One person is chosen to spin the bottle the first time. The first person to play spins the bottle. When the bottle stops spinning, it points to a second person. The first person then asks the second person to perform a funny action. A third person then takes his turn and spins the bottle. The game continues that way.
Caught You! Cheng Limin from China
We usually looked forward to this exciting activity which was led by our teachers. At that time, we always kept asking our teachers when to play and where to play, and our teachers used to answer with a smile. They knew all of us were anxious to play the game. In this game, you need a large group of people (about 20-30 people), a piece of cloth, and a small ball. Our teachers took us to a beautiful park with a large green lawn, then we sat down side by side in a large circle except for one person who was selected by our teachers and sat outside the circle of students. To keep the game going well, one of the teachers was a leader and referee, who always gave orders to make the game fair, reasonable and fun. At the beginning of the game, we sat in the circle and one of us just sat a few feet away from the circle with his or her eyes blindfolded. That meant that he or she couldn't see who was holding the small ball. This was a key point. As soon as everybody was ready, the teacher declared a start. At that moment, we began to pass the small ball one by one around the circle, and the one who sat alone could shout "Stop!" at any time he or she wished. When we hear "Stop!", the student who had the ball in his or her hand had to stand up and sing a song or tell a story. From time to time, we laughed loudly because the players made some funny faces and noise. The person outside the circle was replaced every five minutes. Now
that I am grown up, I miss this game because it was
a lot of fun. I laughed and had a good time when I
played it. More
traditional children's games: Return
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