|
Introduction  Our school is ready to start a Comenius Multilateral Partnership Project with (2010-2012). The project proposes to Kids Forget Street Games. Students experience street games by learning about and playing established games, such as stickball, kick the can,and tag as well as hand games, chant-and-response activities, and rope skipping. , Students research and present their findings about a selected street game. Our partnerships will introduce special game(S) t o among country and cultures..
Knowledge of the cultural aspects, customs, history of other European countries across the search and putting in practice of Popular and Traditional Games of every country. It supposes a work of search of the information, practical accomplishment of the opposing thing, production of the presentation, and communication and exchange of the information using the itc in Game language
Why is this Project? Because the game itself is the expression of peace agreement and sympathy among people. It is also well known that the game anticipates children's adaptation for their adult life. While preparing for Game Day in our school, we came to an interesting conclusion: more or less all the games we got from you were familiar for our children. It means the children folk games are international and our children here in Turkey play almost the same games which are also popular somewhere even in Europe, in America... This conclusion was unexpected but at the same time very pleasant. It made us realize that the world is not so big at all. Our students are playing your games in the classrooms, on the playground, and in the Physical Education class. We will be featuring their favorites on Multicultural Day. We like the project very much. Really. It is so nice to read games from other countries. Every game told something... Some games are very alike Turkish games. Almost every game told something about the country it came from. It will be a very good idea to organize such a project.Maybe there could be another project like this? It could be about riddles, puzzles. Each of you was a child once… The game is a way to communicate and the cultural exchanges made us closer one from another. We have the opportunity to find out that the kids from our partnerships country also play "Hopscotch" or "Hide and Seek". As well we would like to learn new games which are played by the children from other countries. We understood better the rules of the new games, and also their far origin, exchanging drawings, pictures, video or audio tape.
We prepared announce soon the web site address of the project. This could be the first multicultural anthology of the children's folk games. Almost all the world languages are to be found here: English, Bulgarian,Romanian, Spanish, French, Latvian, Portugal,Italian,Sweden and others The Sun shines… The Earth spins round… Fish swim… Birds fly… Children play…
This project will be a challenge made to childhood and the latter has won. Children have always played and will continue to play as long as the human being exists. The play belongs to a world of innocence, it doesn't know what borders and discriminations of any kinds are and this wonderful project will manage to successfully prove it. 
The games I remember most strongly The games I remember most strongly from my childhood were not commercial games with printed rules but rather those that we learned from our parents and other children. I remember the games my mother taught me, such as how to jump rope with two ropes the way she did when she was a child. With two ropes you have to jump doubly fast, what she called "double dutch." Many times we would ask her to take time from her work to turn the rope for us because we knew that when she began to reminisce about the games she knew, she would soon be telling us wonderful stories from her childhood. I also remember telling our parents we were leaving for school early, but instead my brothers and sister and I would stop at the end of the drive and play games with the neighbors before school. During those games we enjoyed a brief magic. For the moment, it didn't matter who lived in a big house or small one, who had many toys at home or just a few, whose parents were on one end of the political spectrum or the other, and who did well in school or who did not. We all ran and laughed and called out to one another as we played such games as "tag" or "kick the can" -- games that needed no fancy equipment, at most an old tin can or rope, or a song. Collecting games whose rules are typically transmitted by "word of mouth" provides an excellent vehicle for students to share cultural and linguistic knowledge: * Games are universal. * The families of students are involved, encouraging oral histories. * Comparing games provides a vehicle for cultural sharing and encourages discussion about the cultural knowledge embodied in games. * Students learn investigative skills. When a child brings in a new game, it extends the growing collection of data. When a child brings in a game that has been described by others, either locally or in other parts of the world, fascinating patterns can be discovered in the data. * Students improve their writing skills. To explain to others the rules for a game that the reader may never have seen before, requires very detailed and explicit writing. * Examining the rules of games, how they are established and what happens when they are broken, can lead to discussions about what children know of conflict resolution. * Collecting games is a provocative yet a discrete task -- it's rich but has a concrete product as an outcome. Telecommunications makes it possible for students from diverse regions to collaborate on a wide-ranging investigation of games.
I know that the games collection you are creating will become a valuable classroom resource which teachers can use to encourage cross-age cooperation on school playgrounds and to stimulate alternatives to watching TV after-school. I can also see, in watching the lively exchange of children's games that has begun, that this project is going to be fun and engaging! Games for Children Games for Children is like Work for adults. With this I mean that I cannot imagine an adult who doesn't work, or a child who doesn't play. I think playing games is the way for children to learn, to explore, to know, to imagine, to share, to create, everything they do has to do with games, for them, even the most serious things have a game-like side, and I think that's because games is something serious to them. The Children's Traditional Games Project will help children share their games across all boundaries of borders, languages, and oceans. For all their tomorrows, the children will feel a little closer because they will share their favorite games this year.
Games Games have always been and are a form of human communication. Children play with each other easily, often they don't need any words. They can express their feelings and ideas non-verbally. they don't know the languages. The other children don’t know any Spanish,French,Italian,Russian or English. This is a skill which we lose as we become adults, which is a pity. If we could agree on some behaviour rules as easily as children often do, even without such communication skills as we possess, then probably this world would have been a safer and a better place to live in. It is a privilege to take part in the Project.
Life is a Game We've been training for it from the birth - learning to obey rules, to enjoy it and (from time to time) to remember it's just a Game (that is: not to take it extremely seriously). Let's pretend to be children one moment! Music, poetry and game follow childhood, the earliest age of the man. Children's games, that is to say recreational activities mainly enjoyed by children, are orally transmitted from child to child, often accompanied by traditional formulas or counting out rhymes. They vary from culture to culture. Children express their joy to play and they simulate the social life typical to adults as they wish to imitate them. It is difficult to classify the games because of their great number and variety. Children enjoy both active and passive games. Some games are played according to formal rules or prescribed equipment, others are spontaneously played. Games of skill and chance, outdoors and indoor games, word and guessing games are also known. The games offer to children the opportunity of cooperation and action. Psychologists believe that the basis of children's play is an imitation of adult life, and at the same time a learning process that means to adapt and copy life' situations. Children's games are spread and perpetuated by imitation, many of them such as "Hopscotch" or "Marbles" have long histories. The children's folklore maintains elements, even since mankind's childhood. It preceded the appearance of spoken languages and musical language. It is said that thanks to this kind of folklore, the scientists could look in the far off past of mankind where there rest the roots of art. Such games and rituals mainly interest folklorists. For example one and the same game, namely "Hide and seek" is played all around the world, Africa, Australia, America, Asia and Europe. Games come out and in of fashion, and new games appear. Nowadays, electronic games are preferred both by children and adults. Other games are seasonal or local and on the other hand "Monopoly" and "Scrabble" can be played throughout the year. The game as a main activity of a child is the most important stage for his development, but also a link between past, present and future. Symbol of victory The game is a symbol of victory in a fight with yourself, with your own fear, weakness, or doubts. It is a whole universe, where everyone has to find his place, with a chance or a risk.
The game associates the notions of the Whole of Rules and of Liberty in a frame settled like in real life. So, the games are real methods of the real, personal and social life. They enable the passing from Nature to Culture.
At the outset, games are connected to the idea of Spirit Murat CINKI , Turkey English Teacher, Coordinator |
