Hello everyone!

I'm super late with my entry to the contest in Cross Culture Community called SCHOOL VACATION AT HOME and in fact it's only one day left until you can submit your post.

What is all about??

Well, we need to share some traditional games from our country that can be played at home, indoor or outdoor.
Also, think about those games that can be implemented as recreational (and educational) activities for our children, during the summer days and vacation. What games do you play with your children in order to keep them off of screens?

I know there's no much time left, but still I want to invite @triplug and @taliakerch to take a look on this challenge, maybe you guys are interested to participate in! Just don't forget, today is the day!

Read about the challenge here..

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Blind Old Woman

(Blind man's buff? This is the name of the game I found in English on google)

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LOL! The name of the game it's hillarious! Me and most of the kids used to play this game in our childhood and kids still play it, mostly in kindergarden, school, camps.

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I think it's fun!

I'll keep it simple with the description.

In a few words you need a scarf.
Then a child must tie the scarf around his eyes in such a way that he can no longer see.

A perimeter is set that the children choose by mutual agreement and only in that area the game takes place.

The blindfolded player must touch the others without seeing them, while the other players spread out and try to avoid him or, on the contrary, challenge him to catch them by making sounds and laughing and talking.

Thats my favorite part.

Through this game, children can develop their auditory sense because their sight is a hindered and this is exactly what I tried to do with my little one.

It is recommended that the game take place outside or in a spacious room, without obstacles.

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Another game (both educational and entertaining) is called Sus-Jos (Up and Down)

Up & Down

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(image source here)

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I grew up with this game and actually this is the version I know, from my childood. Now there are plenty of modern versions in Romania. We have a Disney version.

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The game is simple. My child already can play it perfectly, at 3 years and 7 months. I know that this is possible because he knows numbers but still, there are another aspects to consider. He has patience, he knows to follow rules and wait his turn. Luckily I have a bright baby boy and he actually He won 3 games in a row! He was lucky, I guess!

I couldnt pass on more than 16. :)))
I rolled the dice 3 times one after the other and ended up on the square with number 16, then I had to go back to 4 again. Frustrating. My son was already somewhere around 39.

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The How-to-play instructions are easy-peasy. You just need to roll the dice and the first player who gets on top (last number) it's the winner. There are some stairs along the way, either up or down.

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Okey (Rummy) Game

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This is one of my son's favorites! And it was my favorite too when I was little. I was playing this game from the age of 7. My son plays it at 3.5 years old hehe.

There are many ways of how to play this game but I'm only writting about how we play it.

There are a lot of Beautiful and Fun Traditional Romanian Games but I only share these with you, the ones I ACTUALLY play with my preschooler. Because this is what this contest is about.

I play these games with my child because of mainly 3 things I write below:

1. for fun
2. my son enjoys it
3. there are a lot of learning benefits by playing these games

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I showed my son 4 ways of how to play this game: by color and by number. This is what I considered it's suitable for him and he can actually understand the logic behind.

1. We play this game by color, (and number) from 1-13
2. We play the game by numbers (from 1-13 and another 1 in the end). The colors are random here
3. We play by making 3-4 formations of 3 pieces like 1-2-3, 8-9-10, all formations of 3 pieces must be the same color.
4. We play by making 3-4 formations of 3 pieces like 2-2-2, 5-5-5, 11-11-11. The color doesnt matter but you can't have in a formation of 3, two times the same color.

Anyways, he prefers the second option, like you see in the pictures here. He beat me on this game as well today. Cause honestly, the pictures were made today. We played 3 times the game, 2-1 for my son.

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How to play?

One player gets 15 pieces, the other(s) only 14. The one who receive those 15 pieces begins the game by putting one piece down . The other player can take it if he needs it. If he doesn,t than he take a piece from the remaining ones.

If there are many players, (4 maximu) you can play it clockwise direction.

Ohh and all pieces are upside down, and only one piece can be seen. That one can be used in the end, in case one player needs that number (for example the 7). You can take it finally if you have the other pieces and you need just this.

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This is my son's game board. He beat me! See? Ohh that smiley face can replace any number.

And this was my game board. I needed an 11.

We usually make blocks out of 7 pieces.

I think Rummy is a world wide game so you can read more about it here.

Again, I dont think I need to mention how many benefits can a child have by playing this game. On short: Cognitive skills, patience and concentration skills, social skills, memory and logical thinking development etc etc etc etc....

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Bowling Game

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This is another game we use to play. I like it for my child because while playing it, we're working on hand-eye coordination skills development and dexterity but also because it's fun and it's an opportunity to spend some time outdoor.

The game needs practice, discipline, correct body positioning and a lot more.

Here are just a few pictures.

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And we have this mini version as well, playing it from time to time. Mostly together, inside the house.

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Don't worry Game

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Probably this is the most popular game board in Romania. I'm including it because I play it with my son and it's his favorite, together with Rummy. (though today he told me Up and Down is his favorite)....

This is a game with a mamimum of 4 players. It inlcudes dice rolling and little pawns. In short, every player has to roll the dice and move the pown until he gets on his home, where he is safe from other players. On the road, if two players get on the same spot, the first one that got removed by the second, takes it all from the start.

There are a few rules, but very easy. IF my son understands this game, then you can imagine how easy-to-play it is. Still there are some tricks you can do and logical skills can be build with this game.

My son can play it from the age of 3.

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I just google it!! 😂. It's the version of LUDO Game, similar American Parcheesi or Milton Bradley's Trouble.

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I dont want to write all over the rule of this game, so here you can read about how you can play it.

Please believe me, he beat me on this to, this specific time when I took the photos.

I noticed that my son is very competitive and he gets frustrated if he loses. I dont know when he understood the concept of win/lose. But he always wants to be the FIRST in everything, every game. This is something I'm working on and try to explain that there is more than a win or lose thing. I try to teach him about cooperation and team work and how sometimes we might lose and thats OK.

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Ok everyone, I think I'm ready to finish my post, I hope you enjoy it! There would be still a huge list of traditional Romanian games I would love to share with you someday.

Thank you for reading!

missdeli

💛