The outdoor games we played
3rd Primary School of Zografou, Greece
The little tiles Children draw a circle and build a tower of 5 tiles at the centre. Then, they draw a line at a distance of 5-6 metres and divide into 2 groups. One player of each group at a time shoots at the tower with a small ball. If they succeed, they scatter the tiles in the circle. The opponent team must build the tower again trying to avoid being hit by the members of the first group.
The statues One member of the group is the leader. The leader stands against the wall, eyes shut and asks: “Little statues, is it day or night?” If the answer is “day” he turns around and sees the other players in still poses. The leader approaches each statue trying to make them move, laugh or speak. If he succeeds then another player becomes the leader.
Who’s afraid of the Boogie man? One player plays the Boogie man. There is a line on the ground which marks his home. The Boogie man stands opposite the other players and asks ”Who’s afraid of the Boogie man?” The others answer “No one!” and try to cross his territory without being caught by him. The ones who are caught join hands with the Boogie man so that there is a chain of pupils who try to capture more players. The chain becomes bigger and bigger. The last player who manages to cross to the other side is the winner!
To mantilaki (the little handkerchief) The children form two rows, one facing the other, and they sit on the ground. Each child is given a number by the teacher (if 10 children in each row they are given numbers from 1 to 10 and they sit facing each other). In the middle of the distance, there is a small circle, made with chalk and a handkerchief in it. The game starts when the teacher calls out a number. The children from the two teams who have got that number run to the circle and try to catch the handkerchief and turn back to their place without being caught by their opponent. Everyone who succeeds in this, gets one point for their team which is marked on the ground. The game is complete when all children have played and the winner team is the one with the most points.
The little tails
Every player has got a string like a tail fixed at their back at waist-level. The other players try to catch as many tails as possible making sure they don’t lose their own tail! The one that collects the most tails without losing their own is the winner!
The elastic string
We use an elastic string which runs around two players’ legs. These two children stand at a distance of about 2 metres. The string is placed at a different height (on the ground, round the ankles, round the knees, round the waist) and each player must jump over it doing certain movements.
Hopscotch
It comes in different shapes according to the place of origin
Children use some chalk to draw the square patterns on the ground. Then they pick a flat round-shaped stone which must be placed inside the first square and be pushed with the tip of their foot across the whole pattern. For more details ‌‌ watch our headmistress in action in the playground!