Main Games S. America section

Sack-race
Continent : South-America. Country: Brazil. Category: Moving game. Number of players: 4- >. Props: A sack
Description
Two groups of children stand in line and have to hop inside a sack from one side to the other vice versa. The group, of which all children have come back first in the starting position, is the winner

Tin walk
Continent : South-America. Country: Brazil. Category: Moving game. Number of players: 2. Props: Some tins and rope
Description
In every tin, two holes are made on the side of the top, through which a rope is fixed at the inside with knots at the end of the rope, so that the rope can not come out of the tin. By pulling the rope and putting your feet on the tins, you can walk.

Tyre rolling
Continent : South-America. Country: Brazil. Category: Moving game. Number of players: 2 - >. Props: Car tyres
Description
Some children roll tyres in the schoolyard. They just play with the tyres to discover the possibilities of speed, running and rolling. At some moments children find out what else is possible to fill in their creativity.

Telephone
Continent : South-America. Country: Brazil. Category: Miscellaneous Number of players: 2. Props: Tins and a rope
Description
Two children have two tins, connected by a rope, through which they can play ‘telephone’. By pulling the rope firmly and tight, you can hear (with your ear at the tin) the other child talking over a distance of a few metres.

Hill gliding
Continent : South-America. Country: Brazil. Category: Moving game. Number of players: 2 - >. Props: Carton or cardboard
Description
With a small piece of carton, children have fun in gliding from a small hill near the school. You don’t need to be a world champion glider to be able to do this.

Babalu
Continent : South-America. Country: Brazil. Category: Hand-clapping game. Number of players: 2. Props: none
Description
Two girls clap this game. They start hitting, with two hands together, the other player’s hands, after that they use one hand in a special way. Then they make some moves with their arms, after which some body-moves follow and at the end thy hop with their legs. It’s not as easy as you think!

Barra manteiga
Continent : South-America. Country: Brazil. Category: Tag game. Number of players: 6 - >. Props: No Props
Description
Two groups of boys and girls in line stand opposite each other. A child of one party (the chaser) walks with her hands stretched forward in the direction of the other party: there stand the other children also with their open hands stretched forward, to wait to be tagged by the chaser. The trick as being the chaser is to tag the hands of a child of the opposite party and at the same moment quickly turn round and run back to the starting position of your own party, without being tagged by the child he just tagged. If the chaser succeeds, then someone of his own party will be the next chaser; if he fails and he is caught before reaching his own party, then he has to stand aside at the back of the opposite party. The game ends if one party is completely caught by the other party.

Capoeira
Continent : South-America. Country: Brazil. Category: Sing-and-dance game. Number of players: 10->. Props: Music instruments or only hands for clapping
Description
Boys and girls play this from origin Brazilian fighter’s dance. One boy takes the initiative to come in to the circle and another boy will join him, while the other children are clapping their hands and sing the capoeira song. The art of this dance is to have fully control of your moves while dancing, so that you do not touch the other player. Any child standing in the circle is free to enter into the dancing ground to take over one of the two players. So everybody gets his chance to be a dance-player. Most children from Brazil know very well how to perform this fighter’s dance

Peteca
Continent : South-America. Country: Brazil. Category: Hit game. Number of players: 4- >. Props: Self made ball
Description
Some boys have made a kind of ball out of paper. Standing in a circle they must try to keep the ‘ball’ in the air by hitting it with their hands. Because the ball is not exactly round, it is more difficult as you think. If you have no ball, you make one of your own!

Maria Madelena
Continent : South-America. Country: Brazil. Category: Hand-clapping game. Number of players: 4- >. Props: none
Description
Five girls are standing in a circle and start saying ‘ Ma, ma, ma, Maria Madelena’ and begin their clapping game. First they use their arm along their bodies, further they clap their hands. Thereafter they hop and at the end of it, while counting ‘un-dos-tres’, they move their legs. At the word ‘tres’ (three), everybody must stand still, but with their feet crossed. If you haven’t crossed your feet, you must do a little ‘show-dance’ for the others. After that, the clapping game continues.

Eu com es quattro
Continent : South-America. Country: Brazil. Category: Hand-clapping game. Number of players: 4. Props: none
Description
Four girls are doing this clapping game. It requires fine co-ordination in handclapping, because you have to clap hands with three girls, which makes it sometimes confusing, even if you do this game several times in a row.

Jogo de barbante
Continent : South-America. Country: Brazil. Category: Manipulation game. Number of players: 2. Props: a little rope
Description
Two children have tied the two ends of the rope together and if you put both hands in it, it forms a circle. If you have the rope between your hands, you then take the rope with your fingers and make a figure with the rope. You hold that figure between thumb and forefinger and then the other boy will move with his fingers into the rope and transforms the rope into another figure. At the same time he takes over the rope and the other boy will at his turn try to transform again the rope into another figure. It depends how many different variations in figures both children have learned, so it might continue for a long time: the more figures you know, the longer fun in playing they’ll have

Jogo de barbante
Continent : South-America. Country: Brazil. Category: Manipulation game. Number of players: 1 - 2. Props: a rope
Description
A boy is making figures with a rope, he shows us the ‘Eiffel tower’ from Paris in France.

s Cular elastico
Continent : South-America. Country: Brazil. Category: Leap-/ jump game. Number of players: 3. Props: An elastic rope
Description
Two girls are holding up the rope, while two other girls are jumping. Starting from the ankle position of the ‘holding-up girls’, the rope lays around two legs, the two girls start jumping. Gradually the rope goes higher, ending at the top of the head. The variety of jumping is done either with the feet or the arms at the higher positions. They make their own rules, here the two ‘holding-up’ girls tell the jumping girls how to jump. They change position from jumping into ‘holding-up’ when they want to.

Ovo choco
Continent : South-America. Country: Brazil. Category: Tag game. Number of players: 5->. Props: A piece of cloth
Description
A group of children are discussing who will be the first ‘runner with the piece of cloth.. Then they sit on the ground in a circle and the runner walks along the circle. She must drop the cloth behind the back of one of the children in the circle, who are clapping and singing. When they stop singing (after ‘un-dos-tres’) the ‘runner’ must drop the cloth. As soon as a child in the circle finds out that the cloth is behind her back, she has to stand up and run after the ‘runner’ and try to touch her. The runner has an escape: she can sit down, before being touched, at the place where she left the piece of cloth. If she is not touched, the game continues and starts all over again.

Little stones
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Aim game. Number of players: 2. Props: Some little stones
Description
Two boys are playing with little stones. One boy is hitting stones with his finger, when he hits one stone, then he may have it. The other boy is throwing a stone through the air from above and when he hits one, he also can have it. When one boy is missing, the other is on. The game is over, when all stones are out of the playfield. These boys are playing this game without very clear rules, which is –sometimes- related to children’s spontaneous games!

Las piedras saltarinas
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Manipulation game. Number of players: 2 - >. Props: Some old tyres and small gravel stones
Description
Two boys play with gravel stones on their playground. As a marking line on that playground, the school has digged some old car tyres in the ground. The children have discovered that they have a lot of fun by putting the gravel stones on top of the tyres and then jump on the tyre so that all little stones will fly in the air. Big fun to play this game

Tamiguel
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Miscellaneous Number of players: 5->. Props: No Props
Description
The boy in this game is the catcher and has to lure the so-called ‘mother’ of the other girls with an idle story to some place, so that he is free to catch one of the girls in line. But just when he tries to catch one girl, the mother hears the screaming of her girls and immediately runs backs to her kids to protect them. The girls, however, are holding themselves together by having their arms set tight. Sometimes the catcher is fast and manages to take already one girl before the mother returns. If the mother is in time, the catcher starts another excuse or idle story to lure the mother away from her girls. The game is over when all girls are caught by the catcher.

Sapatito
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Counting game. Number of players: 4->. Props: No Props
Description
The text the girls are saying here in ‘Sapatito’ is mostly used to start a game to choose which player will be ‘it’. But here it has become a little game in itself. The children stand in a circle with the forefinger of one hand up and one child has to try to catch the fingers after saying a text. The other children may pull away their fingers, but the catcher mostly is fast and takes very round one finger. When your finger is caught, you are out and must wait till next round.

Chair dance
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Miscellaneous Number of players: 4- >. Props: Some chairs
Description
Five girls are playing chair dance, of which two girls are singing and three girls walk around the chairs. They use two chairs for three walking girls. When the singing girls are giving a sign, then the three girls have to try to sit as fast as possible on an empty chair. Always one girl will lose, because there are only two chairs for three girls. When one girl is off, also one chair will be taken out, so only one chair is left for two walking girls. Then the game continues, and two girls are left to struggle for the last chair to sit on.

Goal
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Counting game. Number of players: 4->. Props: A small goal on the schoolplayground
Description
Children climb on the goal at one side and have to try to reach the other side of the goal without touching the ground. At the other end of the goal they let themselves down along the goalpost or they jump down.

Dragon
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Tag game. Number of players: 8 - >. Props: none
Description
Two boys are the chasers and have to tag the free children as quick as they can. After ‘uno-dos-tres’, the free children run to all corners of the playground, and the chasers running after them. When the chaser touches a free child, then he has to join the chaser and from then onwards they run together. Each person touched join the chasers, so that there is an ever-lengthening ‘chain’ of chasers. The chaser, who has touched most children, has won. Then the game starts again.

Bacteria
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Tag game. Number of players: 8 - >. Props: none
Description
Two children are ‘doctor’ and ‘nurse’. They are going to fight against ‘bacteria’ by tagging the other children, who are the ‘bacteria’. When a child is tagged, he has to stand in the corner. The ‘doctor’ and ‘nurse’ may guard the ‘bacteria’, but they also must try to tag the other children. At the other hand, the children, who are not yet tagged by the ‘doctor’ or ‘nurse’, can free the children in the corner by tagging them free. Then the ‘doctor’ and ‘nurse’ must start all over! So, therefore it is smart to have a good arrangement between the ‘doctor’ and the ‘nurse’: one is guarding and the other is tagging. But, as you can see, it’s not always as easy as you think!

Tops
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Juggle game. Number of players: 2 - >. Props: Tops
Description
Two boys are playing tops. To play this game well, you need a top and a strong rope, at the end of which you make a knot or put a bottle-top. This is done to throw away the top easy and fast spinning. When you have wound the rope around the top, you throw it on the ground and when the top spins, you pick it up with your flat hand and try to keep it spinning in your hand. If you can do that, then you throw the top from your hand against the top laying on the ground. The top on the ground is there, when your first throw with the top is not giving a spinning top. That player has to wait until the other player has thrown his top against the top on the ground before he continues. Also they play tops with extra difficulty: when the top is spinning, they wind the rope a few times around the spinning top, before they pull the rope up and the top is caught in the hand. A variation is to throw the top from your hand, let it bounce once and catch it immediately. A lot of fun, you try it yourself and find out some more tricks!

Quitazos
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Aim game. Number of players: 2. Props: Some coins
Description
Two children are playing with coins. They put one coin on the ground and try to hit that coin with another coin. The trick is to throw the coin in such a way that the coin on the ground turns upside down. The two children here use also the throwing coin as part of the game: when it turns in the same way as the coin they have thrown against, then he/she may take that coin. Another variation is to use two coins lying on top of eachother. To gain one of the coins, you must throw the top coin upside down. The rules they handle here in this game seem not always logical, but the game still continues as agreed.

Bolas cruzadas
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Hit game. Number of players: 2 - >. Props: Marbles
Description
Two boys play with four marbles. They draw a small circle on the ground and then one boy starts this game by picking up- with his hand turned upside down- the four marbles one by one between his fingers. Then he turns his hand and let the marbles fall exactly in the small circle: if on marble (or more) is out of the circle, then the other boy may try. But if he succeeds in doing so, then his fellow player is pointing out which marble has to touch another marble first, as well as the order in which that should be done. The first player tries his best to hit the marbles and now when a marble rolls out of the circle while he is playing, then that is not a problem, it is allowed in this game. The trick in this game is to let in the beginning of the game the marbles fall on the ground very gently to keep them all four in the circle.

Enredada
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Miscellaneous Number of players: 8 - >. Props: none
Description
A group of girls are standing in line while holding their hands. The girl in front of the line starts walking and tries to walk through the line at any randomly chosen point while still holding hands. She walks criss-cross through the line of girls and sometimes it is hard to keep the hands held because the girls have to turn while walking. Also the line walks fast and hands are breaking free. When the girls can’t go further any more, they walk backwards into the starting position.

In-Out
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Leap-/ jump game. Number of players: 7->. Props: No Props
Description
Girls are divided into two groups, one girl is the leader. She stands in front of the groups and is saying either ‘in’ or ‘out’.(in Spanish) By saying ‘in’ all the girls have to jump forwards, when she says ‘out’, all girls must jump backwards. When the leader repeats ‘in’ twice, some girl might get confused and is jumping backwards, or in reverse. Whenever a girl is jumping incorrectly, she has to stand aside and wait a while. The trick of this game is: the leader has to say ‘in’ and ‘out’ very quickly, but above all she must say sometimes ‘in’ or ‘out’ twice, so that it makes all the jumping girls confused.

El globo no cae al suelo
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Miscellaneous Number of players: 4->. Props: a balloon
Description
One child, who has the balloon in her hands, throws it in the air. All children have to keep the balloon high in the air by head. If the balloon falls on the ground, the child who has touched it for the last time must stand in the then newly formed circle. The whole group starts saying a text and at the end of it the new girl with the balloon throws it in the air and the game starts all over.

Siete pecados
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Hit-and-run game. Number of players: 5->. Props: a ball.
Description
A group of children play the game ‘Siete Pecados’ with a ball. One girl has the ball in her hand and throws it in the air while calling a number. Before that each girl has been given a number. The girl, whose number is called, must catch the ball and say ‘alto’ (stop). She looks around and chooses the nearest girl. In three steps she approaches that girl and throws the ball to or against her. When that girl is hit or has caught the ball, the game starts all over by calling a number and throwing the ball into the air.

La Olla
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Hit game. Number of players: 2 - >. Props: Some bottle caps and little stones
Description
Four children play this game. (Or more, or less) One child draws an oval form (which symbolises an eye) on the ground and places four bottle caps in it. Every child has its own cap. The first player throws his stone from the position of the oval (eye) to the line further down, which the other players also do. The player, who throws his stone nearest that line, may start the game. He then must stand behind the line and try to hit one of the bottle caps out of the oval (eye). If he fails to touch one of the tops, then the child, who threw next closest to the line, may try to throw his stone to the tops. If he hits one of the tops out of the oval, then he subsequently throws his stone to the remaining tops in the oval (eye). If all caps are hit and out of the oval, then he collects the caps and the game starts all over.

Mata Chola
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Hit game. Number of players: 2. Props: a pellet in a sock and a rope.
Description
Two children play this game, in which a pellet in a sock is tied at a rope hung at a lamppost. (Or any other post) The game starts when a third (not playing) child throws the sock to the lamppost, but on which players’ side the sock falls, he may start. Both players stand each on a side of the lamppost. The intention of this game is that the sock will be repeatedly hit by hand from the position of the player (so each on his side of the lamppost) round about the lamppost. Because of hitting the sock, it will be whirling around the lamppost, the harder you hit, the more the sock will whirl higher and become more difficult to hit it back. The player who succeeds to hit the sock as high as he can - and therefore almost unreachable for the other player to play forward from his side - has won that round. Next round another opponent player will play against the winner.

Toco Rayuela
Continent : South-America. Country: Bolivia. Category: Line-/ net game. Number of players: 2. Props: Little stones
Description
Two boys are playing in an alley. They have ten little stones each. They draw a playfield on the ground with a little stick. Behind a line they have to throw the stones, one by one into the playfield. When a stone comes in the little whole, that player gets two points. Is a stone thrown in the playfield but not in the whole, then you get one point. If a stone falls out of the playfield, no point is given. They count the points by carving lines next to the playfield. Children make their own rules for this game, also in counting.

Bacanchas Achivas
Continent : South-America. Country: Bolivia. Category: Number of players: 2. Props: Ten beans each player
Description
Two boys are playing this game. One boy draws two circles. Each player has to throw his beans into his circle. The boy, who throws most beans in his circle, starts the game. If both fail to throw any bean in his circle, the boy whose bean is nearest his own circle starts. He must try to get the beans in any circle, it does not matter if he shoots a bean in the circle of his opponent, as long as it is inside the circle.
If a bean is not shot in a circle, the other player continues. If all beans are inside a circle, the player who has shot the last bean into the circle may have all beans. Then the game will be repeated and continues until the players decide to stop.

Chin chin mai
Continent : South-America. Country: Bolivia. Category: Hand-clapping game. Number of players: 3. Props: none
Description
Three children are clapping this game. Sometimes they use different hand movements, but it is not a very complicated clapping game. Still a lot of practice is needed in doing it correctly. Because the clapping games are not always long, they play and invent different variations of clapping games.

Nervioso
Continent : South-America. Country: Bolivia. Category: Tag game. Number of players: 2. Props: none
Description
Two children play hand-tag on the street. The girl starts with the palm of her hands open and facing upwards, while the boy has the palms of his hands in the opposite position above her. The girl tries with one or both of her constantly moving hands to tag the boys' hand(s), which has to remain still. If she touches one of his hands, she may continue, if not it's the boys' turn!

Pelea de Gallos
Continent : South-America. Country: Bolivia. Category: Manipulation game. Number of players: 2. Props: none
Description
Two boys hold each one hand of the other in a way that the all fingers are tightly held in both hands, except the thumb: that finger is free. The game is that each player has to try to get the thumb of his opponent player under his own thumb. So, when you manage to get your opponents thumb under yours, you have a point. Variation in this game: do it with two hands crossed at the same time. So then you must try to get your friends’ two thumbs under yours!

Mimica
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Pastime (no game) Number of players: 2. Props: none
Description
A boy and a girl are playing Mimica. The girl is standing behind the boy and puts her arms through the sweater of the boy. It’s done in a way that it looks like from the front side that the boy is using his own arms. But in fact it’s the girl who can do all kind of funny movements.

Cuculuru
Continent : South-America. Country: Bolivia. Category: Manipulation game. Number of players: 1->. Props: Little stones
Description
A boy has five stones in his right hand and tries to put these stones behind his left hand round in such a way that he is able to push the stones under the space (between the forefinger and thumb.) of his left hand. This pushing of the stones must occur at the same time when he throws (and catches) one little stone in the air.

Marbles
Continent : South-America. Country: Bolivia. Category: Hit game. Number of players: 2. Props: Some marbles
Description
Two boys are playing with marbles. They have two marbles each and every player must hit the others’ player marble. They use a special shooting technique with their fingers. The rules are not really clear in this game, the boys probably make their own rules. It looks that they have to hit the marbles once before they continue. When you miss, the other boy will play.

Corta Corta
Continent : South-America. Country: Bolivia. Category: Hit game. Number of players: 2. Props: Little rope, a bottle top and a nail
Description
Two kids play this game. First a bottle top will be hit flat with a stone and after that the side of the bottle top will be sharpened on the pavement. Next to this a whole is made with a nail in the bottle top, through which a small rope goes. In the rope a knot is tied so that the bottle top is inside the rope. The bottle top is placed in the middle of the rope so you can hold the rope in two hands. Then you spin the rope a few times so that the rope is twisted in itself and at a certain moment you pull with both hands at the same time the ends of the rope and then the bottle top is turning automatically. The other child is doing this procedure as well and then the trick of the game is to cut your opponents rope. The winner is he who succeeds to cut through the opponent’s rope. Be aware to take some extra rope with you!

Pasara
Continent : South-America. Country: Peru. Category: Moving game. Number of players: 10->. Props: none
Description
Children walk on the schoolyard in a long line. Two boys hold their arms up and when a child comes through they put their arms around him. Then they ask him question and depending the answer he must stand left or right. Until all children have come through, at the end they all stand in two lines and they start pulling. The first boy of each line holds the hands or arms of eachother, the group pulls as hard as they can. In the middle there is a line on the ground, the group who pulls the other group over the line, is the winner. But with such a large group it never happens, because the first two boys of the line are not always strong enough to keep their hands tight. When their hands are loose and the line is broken, they start again with pulling