Games from around the world
All over the planet, children play. Discovering games from around the world is a great way for your little one to learn about different countries and have fun at the same time.
For most of these games you don’t need anything special to play so you can have fun anywhere - at home, at the park, or on holiday. Enjoy!
Read our blog to discover some popular playground games, where they come from and how they are played.
Skippyroo kangaroo
Country of origin: Australia
How many players? Six or more
What you need: Nothing
How to play: Children sit in a circle with one child in the middle. They are the Skippyroo. The Skippyroo crouches on the floor with their eyes closed whilst the other children chant ‘Skippyroo, kangaroo, dozing in the midday sun, comes a hunter, run, run, run!’
Whilst chanting, one child must touch Skippyroo’s shoulder and say, ‘Guess who’s caught you just for fun?’ Skippyroo must keep their eyes closed and try to guess the name of the child that tapped them. If guessed correctly, then that child becomes the new Skippyroo.
Egg jousting
Country of origin: Armenia
How many players? Two
What you need: A hard-boiled egg for each player
How to play: This game is traditionally played around Easter but is fun any time of the year. Facing each other, two children tap the small end of their eggs together until the end of one egg cracks.
Next, they joust with the large end of their eggs until one cracks. Jousters say that two eggs will not crack at the same time, so the winner is the child whose egg does not crack.
Pilolo
Country of origin: Ghana
How many players? Four or more
What you need: Sticks and stones, or pennies
How to play: To start, the players must designate a leader and a timekeeper, and determine a finish line. The leader must secretly hide sticks and stones, or alternatively pennies, whilst the players have their backs turned.
When the leader shouts "Pilolo!" the timekeeper starts the clock and players race to be the first to find a hidden object and take it across the finish line. The winner is awarded one point. To play again, gather the objects up and then designate a new timekeeper and leader. The player with the most points wins.
Oonch Neech
Country of origin: Pakistan
How many players? Four or more
What you need: Nothing
How to play: This is a game best played in an area with objects higher than ground level, such as rocks or chairs. The term 'Oonch' means up and 'Neech' means down.
One child is the catcher and they choose to be either 'Oonch' or 'Neech'. If they choose 'Neech', then the players must quickly move to the higher level, or to a lower level if they choose 'Oonch'. The players must keep moving and cannot stay in one area for long.
The catcher tries to tag the players but can only do so if they are in the catcher's area. The player who is tagged first becomes the next catcher.
Luta de Galo
Country of origin: Brazil
How many players? Two
What you need: A scarf for each player
How to play: Luta de Galo means 'fight of the roosters' in Portuguese. To play this game, each player must tuck a scarf into their pocket or waistband, leaving enough hanging out to grab. Both then cross their dominant arm across their chest and hop on one leg whilst trying to snatch the scarf from their opponent's pocket, using only their non-dominant hand.
If either player puts their leg down or unfolds their dominant arm, they are out. The player who still has their scarf at the end wins.
Luksong baka
Country of origin: Phillipines
How many players? Between three and ten
What you need: Nothing
How to play: Luksong baka, meaning 'jump over the cow', is a simple yet fun game. To play, one player must be the baka. This player will kneel down and the other players must successfully jump over the baka without falling or touching them.
Once all players have jumped, the baka rises slightly for the next round. The game continues until all players decide to end the game.
Kabaddi
Country of origin: India
How many players? Six or more
What you need: A piece of rope or chalk
How to play: The players split into two teams and divide a playing field in half using a piece of rope or chalk. The teams then line up roughly ten metres back from the centre line on their own side.
To begin, a player from one team must run into the opposing territory and try to tag one of their opponents. While doing this, the player must keep yelling the word “kabaddi” without taking a breath until back on their own side. Everyone that gets tagged is out.
The opposing team can try to capture the player and prevent them from getting back to their side. If they do not make it back before running out of breath, they will be out.
Catch the dragon's tail
Country of origin: China
How many players? Ten or more
What you need: Nothing
How to play: All players form a line with their hands on the shoulders of the child in front. The first child is the dragon's head and the last is the tail. The dragon's head must try to catch the tail by manoeuvring the line around to tag the last player.
All the players in the middle must keep their arms straight and do their best to hinder the dragon's head, without letting the line break. When the head catches the tail, the tail player takes the front position and becomes the new dragon's head.
Strega comanda colore
Country of origin: Italy
How many players? Three or more
What you need: Nothing
How to play: Choose one player to be the witch. When the game starts, the witch calls out a colour saying "strega comanda colore...", and the players must run to touch an object of that colour.
The witch must try to catch one player before they touch an object of the right colour. If a player is caught, they become the witch.
Cossacks and robbers
Country of origin: Russia
How many players? Six or more
What you need: Several pieces of chalk
How to play: Children must divide themselves into two teams, the cossacks and the robbers. To play, the robbers run and hide, drawing arrows with chalk on the ground or buildings to indicate which way they have gone.
After waiting for 5-10 minutes at their camp, the cossacks begin to look for the robbers. Once a robber is caught, they are kept prisoner back at camp. The game ends once all the robbers have been caught.
We hope that you have learnt lots about different games that are played around the world. If you give any of them a go, make sure you tag us @KiteClothing to show us the fun you're having!
