Lesson aim:

To learn and enjoy traditional Scottish games.

Contents:Traditional games:

Chasing and catching games,

Hiding, seeking and hunting games,

Skipping games ,

Ball games.

Duration :

60 minutes.

Material:

Chalk, (tennis) ball, skipping rope, Flashcard 1.

Warm up

Tig (Also called tag. See teachers' guide for some variations of tag))

Rhyme; (see flashcard 16)

Eeny, meeny, miney, mo,

Catch a tigger by the toe,

If he squeals, let him go,

Eeny, meeny, miney, mo,

You are IT!

In this rhyme, the word “out” has been replaced by IT, so it is really a case of counting in rather than counting someone out.

In Tig, the person chosen to be IT (using the rhyme to establish this, or others that you can find in the teacher's guide), has to chase the others, who all run away from him. When he/she touches or “tags” someone, the chaser shouts out, “ Tag you're IT!” so the person who has been tagged then becomes the chaser.

In order to save any confusion, the person who has just been tagged should shout, “ I'm IT! ”, so that the others are certain as to who is about to chase them, otherwise it really can be confusing in a cramped and noisy playground.

Variation:

Tig may also be played as an elimination game, in which each person who is tagged must drop out, and the original IT remains in that role throughout the game. The last untagged player is then the winner and becomes IT in the next game.

Main Part

Block – All Hide, one seek

A player is chosen to be IT, or the “seeker”. A tree or lamp-post is used as the block and the seeker leans towards it, burying his/her face into his/her right forearm just to be sure that he cannot keek out and see where someone is trying to hide. He/she counts out loud up to an agreed number, keeping his/her eyes shut, while the rest of the group run off to hide. The count is often made in fives or tens such as 5, 10, 15, 20… all the way up to 100, and on reaching this the seeker yells out, “ Here I come, ready or not! ” The seeker then sets off from the block to search for his play-mates, and if he/she spots someone he/she shouts out their name and they race each other back to the block. If he/she wins this race he/she will shout, “ one, two, three, block, block, block!” and he/she bangs his/her fist with each word as he/she strikes the block. However, if the “outie” manages to beat the seeker back to the den, then he/she is allowed to run off and hide again so that the seeker has to count all over again. The first person “blocked” will become the seeker for the next game. Once all of the players have been blocked or freed themselves the game is over.

Rock the boat

When the rope is cawed back and forth in a low arc it is known as “Rocking the Boat”. The players in turn enter the rope, jump twice, and then leave. If you touch the rope you are out. The rope height is increased for the next shot and so on until only one person remains jumping and is therefore the winner.

•  TB Bed

  (See flashcard 11)

The TB Bed is another bed in which the lines are drawn closer together so that the player has to top sideways until they reach the top and can finally rest a foot each in beds T and B. It is not certain as to the origin of the letters T and B. It is possible that they could stand for something simple like “to” and “back”, but from its shape and the fact that it is a bed, it is more likely a social comment of the times when the disease tuberculosis was common in the UK and was normally referred to as TB.

Having successfully completed the TB Bed, the player can claim one of the boxes in the bed and chalks her initials into this space. The other players have to hop over this space, but the player who has claimed it can use it as a rest space until the game is finished. As always, if you step on a line you are out and the next player takes their turn.  

Calm Down

Queenie

  (See flashcard 1: Actions)

Rhymes; (see flashcard 17)

Version 1:

Queenie, Queenie, who's got the ball,

Is she big, or is she small,

Is she fat, or is she thin,

Or does she have a double chin?

Version 2:

Ali Baba, Ali Baba

Who's got the ball?

I ain't got it, in my pocket,

So Ali Baba, Ali Baba,

Who's got the ball?

Someone is chosen to be IT, or “queenie”, and stands to face a wall, or simply with his/her back to the others who stand about four or five steps behind his/her. Queenie throws a ball, such as a tennis ball, backwards over her shoulder, or upwards from in between his/her legs and the players scramble to try to catch the ball before it hits the ground. If anyone manages, they shout “ caught ball ”, and this boy or girl becomes Queenie for the next game. More often than not, the ball touches the ground so that the first player to grab it picks it up and hides it behind his/her back. They all form a row and all pretend to have the ball. Someone shouts “ Ready ” to let Queenie know to turn round and guess who has the ball, or one of the rhymes can be chanted.