Lithuanian Children's Games
Lithuania is an eastern European country that formed as a nation around 1230. The Lithuanian culture is rich in folk art and music. Because of this, Lithuanian children are exposed to some traditional Lithuanian children's games. Some of these games revolve around chasing and tagging other children, while others revolve around throwing and catching a ball. In the early 2000s, Lithuanian game developers came out with several original interactive math video games meant for classrooms. These are designed using the Lithuanian primary school curriculum and are used to encourage young children to learn math.
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Potato
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Potato is a game best played with a large group of children. All that is needed is a medium-sized ball such as a kickball or a volleyball. All children stand in a circle and volley the ball across the circle. The ball must be hit with the hands and cannot touch the ground. When the ball touches the ground, as it inevitably will, the child who hit the ball last sits cross-legged in the center of the circle. As more children sit in the middle of the circle, they must sit in a new circle facing the middle. The goal for the children in the middle of the circle is to intercept the ball, but they must stay seated facing the center of the circle. If a child in the center of the circle catches the ball, all the children sitting in the center can get up and rejoin the standing circle, and the player whose volley was intercepted must sit in the center of the circle. The game can be played until children grow bored.
Blind Hen
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Blind Hen is a game best played with a medium to large group of children. The area played in should be relatively small and without any potentially dangerous obstacles, as one child will be running around blindfolded. All that is needed is a blindfold or a scarf. Children must count off to determine who will be the first "blind hen." The blind hen must be blindfolded. While blindfolded, he can be spun around several times for disorientation or he can simply count to 10 while other players scatter. All players running from the blind hen must make noise to distract the blind hen and so that the blind hen has noise to follow and chase. The blind hen must catch a running player and guess who the player is. If the blind hen is correct, he takes off the blindfold and gives it to the player he caught, who becomes the new blind hen. If he is incorrect. He must be spun around again or count to 10 again as players re-scatter. The game can be played until children grow bored of it.
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Candle
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Candle is a game best played with a medium to large group of children. It should be played on a basketball court, and a medium-sized ball, like a kickball or a dodge ball, is needed. Two children are chosen to stand on either side of the basketball court (the long sides of the basketball court, not the sides with the baskets). All the other players must stay within the court. The players on the outside of the court try to throw the ball and hit the players inside the court. If hit, the players are out. If a player inside the court catches the ball, she gains an extra life. The game ends when all players in the middle are eliminated.
Town of Numbers
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Between the early 2000s and 2010, Lithuania began to make a push for mathematical video games in classrooms. Skaiciu Miestelis, translated to Town of Numbers, is an original Lithuanian educational adventure video game intended for children between first and fourth grade. The games focuses on a boy and his girlfriend who suddenly end up in the Town of Numbers, where he must complete assorted mathematical tasks in order to help different members of the town. On his journey, he meets a variety of characters, such as a mysterious magician, ants and a hedgehog, and he travels through many areas such as caves, mountains, a farm and a beach. Before beginning the game, you choose whether the class is in first, second, third or fourth grade, and math questions are generated based on grade level. The questions meet Lithuanian primary school criteria, and numbers in each question are randomly generated so the game can be played many times. The game includes real-world uses of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, capacity and length measurements.
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References
- "Europeanity"; Traditional Sports and Games; Arvydas Cesiulis, Gintautas Jonas Šedys and Paulius Darginavicius; 2010
- Vilniaus Pedagoginio University Library; Videogame as Mathematics Learning Environment; Joana Lipeikiene, Gitana Cechamiriene and Egle Norkute; 2008
- Apix Educational Systems; What is Town of Numbers?; 2008
Resources
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