This traditional Chinese playground game reinforces addition skills. It is good to play with a class of kids, divided into teams, and can be adapted to suit different ages. It can be very exciting! Best played with kids aged 5 and over.
A large circle is drawn on the playground with chalk. The radius of the circle should be at least as long as 4 large child-sized steps.
Divide the circle through the centre into segments, according to the age and abilities of your child, and write a number in each segment. Younger kids, for example could play with the circle divided into quarters, with the quarters marked 1, 2, 3 and 4. For older kids you might want to divide the circle into 12 and number 1-12. You can also number the segments randomly if you wish.
Divide the children into teams. Take one child from each team and stand them in the centre of the circle, blind fold them, and turn them around 3 times to disorientate them a little. Now let the child take 4 steps in any direction, take of the blindfold, and discover the number of the segment he has landed in.
When one member of each team has had a go, choose another player from each team. Continue until all children have had a go, and add up the numbers. The winning team has the highest score.
Notes:
If you choose to use random numbers, make sure at least one is "0" and 1 or two are high enough to cause some excitement amongst the teams!
You can play this game with a whiteboard or large piece of paper for the children to record their numbers on, if you like. Appoint one child in each team to keep score, or ask each child, when they have finished their go, to write their own number under their team's total.
