Join the Global Playground community on Saturday, July 31st to engage in this unique, multi-cultural, and dynamic, play-based experience! Connect with our international neighbors by playing traditional games with family, friends, and colleagues in your part of the world with easy-to-follow instructions in our instructional play day packet. Then, share your images and video clips to your social media pages and tag us using the hashtags #globalplayground #internationalplayday

Throughout International Play Week, we have engaged in daily challenges prepared us for our main event. If you were unable to participate, please scroll to the bottom of the page and participate in our post-Play Day challenges. We hope you enjoy playing global way!

Good physical, emotional, and social well-being outside the classroom can positively affect a child’s capacity to learn inside the classroom. These are some of the games and sports children play in Global Playground’s partner communities. We hope the joy on their faces inspires you to go outside and play as well. To learn more about some of the games in the video, and to find instructions for how to play them, look for our game recommendations here on the website on July 31st!

Dragon-Snake Game

Played in: Vietnam

Rules:

1. Designate one player as the catcher. 

2. The remaining players form a line, standing one in front of the other and holding the shoulders of the person in front (this forms the dragon). 

3. The catcher tries to run around the dragon and tag the person at the back of the line. 

4. The person in front of the ‘dragon’ holds out their arms and tries to block the catcher. 

5. If the dragon can form a circle, the dragon players win. The catcher wins if she or he touches the tail of the dragon, or the dragon is broken up as they try to avoid the catcher.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCmUy4CmLSs

“The Game of Dragon-Snake (Tro Rong ran len may).” Vietnam Tourism. Vietnam Tourism Information, October 22, 2010. Accessed June 13, 2021. https://www.vietnamtourism.org.vn/attractions/culture/folk-games/the-game-of-dragonsnake-tro-rong-ran-len-may.html.

E L D I, “DEMO Tái hiện trò chơi dân gian - RONG RAN LEN MAY,” YouTube video, August 27, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCmUy4CmLSs.

The Game of the Dragon-Snake (rong ran) - Viet Nam-Country and People - National Administration of Tourism. 2015. Vietnam-Tourism.com. http://www.vietnam-tourism.com/en/index.php/about/items/2293.

Lappa

Played in: Liberia

Rules:

1. All players take off their shoes and mix them up in a pile. 

2. Two players are chosen to take a soft ball and stand twenty yards apart, with the shoes in the middle.

3. One of the other players must try to put the shoes in a line, with matching pairs next to each other, while the two participants with the ball throw it back and forth trying to hit her or him. 

4. If the player arranging the shoes is hit, she or he is replaced by one of her or his teammates. If the shoes are all arranged in a line, with matching pairs next to each other, then the shoe-arrangers win. However, if all the shoe-arrangers are hit with the ball, the ball-throwers win.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pcE7Pq0uoE

Communications team. “Fun and Games the Liberian Way.” Mary’s Meals. Mary’s Meals International, March 18, 2019. Accessed June 12, 2021. https://www.marysmeals.org/who-we-are/news-and-blogs/fun-and-games-the-liberian-way-1.

Raphaelyn CN Bomosy, “Liberian Game #Lappa,” YouTube video, 0:37, August 15, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pcE7Pq0uoE.

Browne, Sparko Jacko Wacko. Getting ready to play a game of 'Lappa' - Liberia's 'tag'. 2017. UNICEF Liberia. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/Liberia.Unicef/photos/a.269811299787372/1158015694300257/.

Stone-Tossing Game

Played in: Myanmar

Rules:

1. Place seven small stones on the ground. 

2. Toss one stone in the air, then try to pick up one stone on the ground before catching the stone in the air.

3. Repeat step two until all the stones on the ground have been picked up with the same hand.

4. In the second round, repeat steps one through three, but try to pick up two stones at once. In the third round, attempt three stones at once.

5. In the fourth round, pick up four stones, then the remaining two with a second toss. In the fifth round, pick up five stones, then the remaining one. In the sixth round, all six stones must be picked up at once.

6. In the seventh and final round, all seven stones are thrown in the air at once, and the participant must catch as many as possible.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjnSwkkxHAQ

Gymboree Play & Music Myanmar, “Myanmar Traditional Game for Kids,” YouTube Video, 1:59, June 18, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjnSwkkxHAQ.

Doctor Kwak-Kwak

Played in: Philippines

Rules:

1. Choose one player to be “Doctor Kwak-Kwak.”

2. Doctor Kwak-Kwak walks away so that she/he can not see the other participants. Meanwhile the other participants join hands in a circle and begin to form a human knot by twisting and stepping over and under each other's arms, but never letting go of each other's hands. 

3. Doctor Kwak-Kwak is called back when the participants say, ““Doctor Kwak-Kwak, please help us!” 

4. Doctor Kwak-Kwak attempts to unravel the other participants by telling them how they need to move to become a regular circle again.

5. Once all the participants are untangled, Doctor Kwak-Kwak “cuts” the circle in pieces by tapping on the hands of the group to allow participants to let go of each other’s hands.

6. When the last pair of participants holding hands is broken apart by Doctor Kwak-Kwak, all the participants run away and Doctor Kwak-Kwak tries to tag the next participant who becomes Doctor Kwak-Kwak.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IReecc0CA-c

Erika Jean Lumen, “DOCTOR KWAK-KWAK(TRADITIONAL GAMES,” YouTube video, 3:47, October 20, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IReecc0CA-c.

Susbilla, Anne Marie. Doctor Kwak-Kwak Please Help Us! 2012. Wordpress. https://devcomcreatives.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/doktor-kwak-kwak-please-help-us/#jp-carousel-621.

Kati

Played in: Kenya

Rules: 

1. Two players stand at either side of a field with a soft ball (can be a sock or other soft item). 

2. The rest of the players stand in a group between the players with the ball. 

3. The players with the ball throw it back and forth, trying to hit the players in the middle. If a player in the middle is hit, she or he is eliminated from the game. If a player in the middle catches the ball, she or he can call an eliminated player back into the game. 

4. The game ends when all the players in the middle have been eliminated. 

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hFnOBxYIaI

Kilimo, Precious. “Kati - 2 Variations.” African Children Games. Wordpress, May 31, 2015. Accessed June 12, 2021. https://folkloreoftheafricanchildrussian13spring2015.wordpress.com/2015/05/31/kati-2-variations/.

UNESCO Africa, “Traditional Games in Kenya- KATI LENGALENGA,” YouTube video, October 18, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hFnOBxYIaI.

UNESCO Africa. Traditional Games in Kenya- KATI LENGALENGA. 2017. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hFnOBxYIaI.

Phul Tokka / Golap-Tagar

Played in: Bangladesh

Rules: 

1. Two teams line up, side-by-side and facing the other team, behind lines on either side of a field. 

2. A team leader on each team gives each player on their team a code name using flowers or fruit. 

3. The team leader blindfolds one of the players on the opposite team. 

4. The team leader calls out the code name of one of the players on her or his own team, and this person walks across the field and taps the blindfolded player on the other team. 

5. After this player has returned to their spot, the player on the other team takes off the blind fold and guesses the player on the other team that tapped them. 

6. If she or he guesses correctly, she or he may take one large leap forward toward the line on the other side of the field. If she or he guesses incorrectly, the player who did the tapping can take one large leap forward. 

7. Teams take turns guessing and tapping. 

8. A team wins when a player from their team jumps across the line of the other team. The losing team must give piggyback rides to the players of the opposing team back to the start line. 

“Folk Games.” Banglapedia. MediaWiki, June 18, 2021. Accessed June 20, 2021. https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Folk_Games. 

Folk Games - Banglapedia. 2021. Banglapedia. https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Folk_Games.

Bachata

Name: Bachata

Danced in: Honduras/Central America

Instructional Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ifdNifX3qc

(For more other amazing dances performed by students at schools built by Global Playground, check out this page of our website: https://www.globalplayground.org/music-dance)

Elastics

Played in: Cambodia

Steps:

1. Build a rope of rubber bands (see video for instructions)

2. Two players stretch the rope, holding it at their knees.

3. All other players jump over the rope. A player can touch the rope, and even land on it, as long as the rope ends up on the other side of the player's body.

4. After the knees, the players holding the rope raise it to their hips, then to their elbows, then to their shoulders, then to their heads, then with their hands raised above their heads.

5. The winner is the player who can jump over the highest level of the rope.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEuBRZHTHrI

Cambodia Hunter Channel, “Cambodia Children play a Lastic game Siem Reap Cambodia-Daily Cambodia Children`life,” YouTube video, October 30, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEuBRZHTHrI.

Play Day Challenge #3:

On Tuesday, July 27th, it’s time to show and tell! Pick your favorite piece of sports equipment or gaming tools that you use to play the global way! Please use our tags on your social media pages to share your thoughts! #playtheglobalway #internationalplayday #challenge3 #globalplayground

Play Day Challenge #5:

Do you enjoy scuba diving in the deep blue seas, hiding and seeking in the park, or even playing pretend in your home? Today is the day to show us where you play! Take a moment today to go to one of your favorite spots in the entire world and take a picture as we prepare for our International Day of Play. Use the tags #playdayplaces #globalplayground #internationalplayday