11 TH PRIMARY SCHOOL OF THESSALONIKI GREECE COMENIUS TRADITIONAL GAMES OF GREECE COMENIUS TRADITIONAL GAMES OF GREECE

The importance of games in Greek society Games have been very significant in Greek society. From very old times up to today, games have helped Greek children to overcome difficult situations. Most of them unfortunately have been forgotten and children do not play them any longer. Luckily some of them still exist and are still played, some in the same way and some with variations. Ancient Greeks realized the significance of the games. They considered them as means of self- education. They also realized how important the team games were and they more over believed that trough them a person can reach perfection. That is why games were part of children’s education. Along with kids, adults also spent a lot of their free time in games and sports. In ancient Greece they played a lot of team games in the streets, yards and there were always rules that everybody had to follow. They strongly supported the view that game is a “great good” because it develops companionship, exercises the body and the mind and teaches children to respect the rules of the game so when they grow up they respect and obey the laws of their country. Plato the great philosopher stressed the need of children to play till the age of six, whatever they liked and which way they liked. He also stressed that they needed some directions, so through games they discover which profession suited them best.

Aristotle advised parents to give to their children innovative and clever games so that they can develop their imagination. In the Byzantine years we don’t exactly know the significance of games in their society. Education of their children was mainly religious and a lot of young boys became monks. We know for sure that some of the games we still play were played at that time. In the recent years playing games is becoming more and more difficult. Blocs of flats have reduced open space, parks and yards. Children find more and more difficult to play games, instead they occupy themselves with all kind of electronic games. This results to serious problems. They become lazy, lonely, they have weight problems from very small age and most important of all they become antisocial. The games we have chosen to present to you perhaps do not help to an overall understanding of the Greek traditional games for obvious reasons. Lack of space is one. We insisted though on: a) The authenticity of each game, pure folk game. b) Its roots are deep in ancient years or Byzantine time c) Its social role. We chose games that cause joy, laughter and help physical and mental development of children.

1 ST game BEE Girls only. 9 years old. Third grade. The leaders The girls form a circle and say the word pair-fingers. At the last syllable they put their right hand forward, palm in or up. The first pair with the same side are the two leaders. How they play it: The two leaders talking secretly, decide upon an object of the same category which will be used later to attract players in their team, for example: apple or orange, Sun or moon. Then the two leaders form an arch with their hands up. The rest of the girls form a line one behind the other holding each other’s waist. They start walking towards the arch singing: The bee is flying With baby bees And children. The children pass through the arch except the last one. She now has to choose secretly which of the two objects she prefers. When she has chosen, she goes behind the leader whose object has been chosen. The game goes like this till there is only one kid left who is also asked loudly the same question and goes to the line she belongs. This way two lines are formed, usually not equal. Each leader stands facing the other with all their members. They pull each other towards their side. The group that crosses the line between them, loses.

How to choose the leader: The children form a circle. One of them shouts “21”. At the last syllable of twenty one each child puts forward his fingers from one finger to five. The fastest of the children starts counting the fingers from his right side. He stops when he has counted 21. This boy or girl is the leader. Rules of the game: He or she, who was chosen leader, hides his/her face and starts counting 5, 10, 15, 20, 25… and suddenly shouts “one, two, three, red light”. Everybody has to stay still, freeze, become a statue. Whoever moves, loses and is out of the game. When a child touches the leader they all run and when the leader grabs a kid, he then becomes the new leader of the game. 2 ST game LITTLE STATUES

12 Boys. 9 years old. The leaders They are chosen the same way as in “ little statues”. The two leaders then pick their players. Then they start walking from opposite directions. They walk straight forward until they meet, and wins the one who steps over the opponent’s shoe. His team plays first. How they play it: The two teams face each other in a distance of 10 meters. The leader can place his players according to their strength or to his plan. The team that plays first starts the game shouting rhythmically. “We want peace” “We want war” the other team answers back “Who do you want?” “…………” (a name) 3 ST game PEACE AND WAR

They call the name of the boy of the opponent team, whom they believe to be the weakest, so they can keep him in their team. The chosen boy has to run fast and with a lot of strength to the other team so that he passes through the clasped hands, like a chain. He chooses the point that he thinks is weak and easy to break. If he manages to break the chain, he returns to his team bringing a prisoner with him (he picks one). If he fails to break the chain the opponents capture him. The game goes on until one team is left with no players.

4 ST game MOSQUE Boys and girls. 12 years old. 6 th grade, 12 years old The game is played with more than 10 players who fall into two groups. They put plastic bricks one on top of the other in the centre of a small circle. This way they construct a “mosque”. Around this small circle the players of one team form a bigger circle. (e.g. the red one) The players of the other team (e.g. the green team) stand at a distance of four meters away from the bricks. And they try to hit the bricks, in turns, until they drop the bricks down. When they drop all the bricks or even one, the players run round and round the circle. They try at the same time to get in the circle, only three at a time, in order to rebuild the bricks. The players of the red team have the ball and try to hit and force to throw out those who get into the big circle. If the green team builds the “mosque”, it wins. If the red team hits all the players of the green team then the red team wins. The plastic bricks have replaced the stones that were used in old times.

Boys and girls. 9 years old. This is a very popular game even in our days. It is played with a ball and the players are more than four. They split into two teams. One team stands in the middle. The members of the other team stand at two opposite sides allowing a distance of 6-8 meters between them. The children at the two sides try to hit with the ball the ones that are in the middle who also try to avoid being hit by the ball. At the end, when there is only one kid left in the middle, he must avoid being hit for 10 sequent times. if he fails the teams exchange their places. If he manages to avoid the ball, his team is the winner and invites his co players in the middle the game starts again. 5 ST game APPLES