Cultural Carnival Games

Games from China

• In China, people create carnival games using chopsticks. Mark a starting line and a run-to line 10 feet apart. Place a bowl on a table at the run-to line and a bowl of cotton balls at the starting line. Give each player a pair of chopsticks. They must use the chopsticks to transfer as many cotton balls as they can to the empty bowl. If they touch the cotton ball with their hands or the cotton ball falls on the ground, they must go the bowl and get another cotton ball. If a player can transfer six cotton balls in one minute, he wins a prize. To make the game harder, have the players transfer marbles instead of cotton balls.

Games from Korea

• Create a ring hunting game to represent a game from Korea. Fill a plastic swimming pool with play sand and hide several plastic or metal rings in the sand. Give two players a wooden dowel. When you say "Go," the first player to find a ring and get it on her stick wins the game. Players cannot use their hands to find the rings; they can only use the wooden dowel. For another game, give two players a shuttlecock, also known as a birdie in the game of badminton. The players must use their feet to kick the shuttlecock in the air. The player who does this the most times without dropping it wins the game and a prize.

Games from Africa

• Try a button toss game for an Africa game. Players must toss 10 buttons into a pail consecutively. Draw a standing line six feet from a small pail. If a player makes all 10 buttons in the pail, he wins a prize. For another African game, make a target using cardboard and poster board. Tape the target onto the bottom of the box and cut a hole in the middle of the target. Players must try to toss a ball through the hole, while another player tries to bat the ball away using a small stick or bat. If a player gets a ball in the target, he wins a prize.

Games from England

• Play a penny game by giving three or four players a penny. Have the players stand at the end of a long table. Each player must slide her penny down the table and try to get it as close to the end as possible without falling off. The player with the penny closest to the edge wins a prize. For another game, try a game of Aunt Sally. Place a block of wood on a fence or table. Players must use a wooden dowel to toss at the wood block to try to knock it off the fence.