Spanish and American games...

24 May 2012

During my intercambio (language exchange) today, we talked about games that we used to play in Physical Education class as well as on the playground. It was interesting to find out how many games we have in common and which ones are a bit different.

We started by discussing ways in which team members are chosen or who goes first. Like in the United States, more often than not a team captain is chosen for each team, and they select members for their teams.

However, what interested me more is how they choose who goes first. In the United States, we often use choosing rhymes to decide who goes first. Everyone puts one (or sometimes two) feet in, and one by one people are eliminated. We use rhymes like: 
Eeney meeney miney moe, 
Catch a tiger by its toe, 
If he hollers let him go, 
Eeney meeney miney moe 
My mother told me to pick the very best one,
and you are not it. 


They also use another method for choosing who goes first. Two people stand a few feet apart. They have to walk towards each other--but with every step their heels must touch their toes. The last person who can take a full step is the winner. 


As in the United States, kids play games like Tag/Freeze Tag(juegos de pillar), Cops and Robbers (Policías y Ladrones), Hide and Seek (Escondite), and jumping rope (saltar la comba). 


I still need to ask the girls at school what sorts of rhymes they use for jumping rope, but I promise to write about it soon!