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Vietnamese Children's Games

Folk games played by Vietnamese children include traditional games that children play all over the world, from jacks--although played with bamboo sticks and using a fig as a ball--to spinning tops, which children in the countryside make out of guava, jackfruit or longan wood. Other, unfamiliar games of Vietnamese children serve as a great way to introduce children in North American to another culture.

Rong Ran
- Play this game with a large group of children. One child, sitting on a small hill or otherwise elevated above the other players, plays the doctor. The other children stand in a line and hold onto each other to form the body of the dragon-snake. The doctor asks the dragon-snake where it is going, and the dragon-snake replies that it is searching for medicine for its son. The doctor asks how old its son is. “He is one year old,” comes the reply, and the doctor says, “The doctor is not well.”
  
  The dialogue continues, with the dragon-snake giving the age of its son as another year older until it reaches 10. The doctor then says, “All right, the doctor is well.”
  
  Doctor: Give me your head.
  
  Dragon-snake: Nothing but the bones.
  
  Doctor: Give me the body.
  
  Dragon-snake: Nothing but the bones.
  
  Doctor: Give me the tail.
  
  Dragon-snake: Pursue at will!
  
  The doctor flies into a rage at this answer and tries to catch the child at the end (the creature's tail) while the line of children tries to form a circle. The child at the head of the line attempts to bar the doctor with outstretched arms. If the doctor succeeds, the losers stretch out their hands, palm downwards, to the winner to receive a slap.
Bit Mat Bat De
- “Catching the goat while blindfolded” is a version of blind man's bluff played by children between the ages of 6 and 15. Goat and goat catcher are both blindfolded with handkerchiefs, and the game begins when the catcher yells “Done!” The goat occasionally bleats while both players move around stealthily and listen carefully to evade or catch the other player.
Nu Na Nu Nong
- This is a chanting game played by Vietnamese girls. Several girls stand next to each other with their legs stretched out. The leader of the game recites a song and touches another girl's leg or foot at each word. The different versions of the chant all begin with the alliterative nonsense phrase, “nu na nu nong.”
  
  As the song nears its end, the singer slows down so that the other players will be anxious about whose leg will be hit. The girl whose leg is hit with the last word must withdraw it. The girl who withdraws both legs first wins and the last girl with both legs in the game loses.

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