# Local and Traditional Games

## Overview

This chapter introduces students to a wide variety of local and traditional games played across India. Each game not only fosters physical skills such as agility, balance, and strength but also enhances emotional intelligence, empathy, cooperation, and cultural appreciation. By playing together, students learn to respect and care for each other while developing key life skills.

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## Key Games and Concepts

### 1. Seven Stones (Satolia, Lagori)
- **Equipment**: 7 flat stones, sponge ball.
- **How to Play**: One team tries to knock down a stack of stones and rebuild it while avoiding getting hit by the ball thrown by the other team.
- **Skills Developed**: Agility, concentration, teamwork, accuracy.

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### 2. Golaap Togor
- **How to Play**: Players are assigned names of fruits/vegetables. Blindfolded player guesses the person who tapped them.
- **Skills Developed**: Empathy, anticipation, memory, emotional understanding.

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### 3. Pakdam-Pakdai (Tag)
- **How to Play**: One player chases others within a boundary. The touched player becomes the new chaser.
- **Skills Developed**: Speed, quick reaction, endurance.

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### 4. Chain (Sankali)
- **How to Play**: Similar to Pakdam-Pakdai but players join hands after getting caught, forming a growing chain.
- **Skills Developed**: Coordination, unity, strength.

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### 5. Aankh Micholi (Blindfold Game)
- **How to Play**: A blindfolded player tries to identify others by sound and touch.
- **Skills Developed**: Hearing, patience, collaboration.

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### 6. Bitta Kud
- **How to Play**: Players jump over a stick held by a team sitting on the ground. Stick height increases each round.
- **Skills Developed**: Courage, stability, leg strength.

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### 7. Hopscotch (Staapu)
- **How to Play**: Players throw a marker into squares and hop across them without touching lines.
- **Skills Developed**: Balance, coordination, willpower.

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### 8. Cockfighting (Langdi variation)
- **How to Play**: Players hop on one leg in a circle, trying to push others out.
- **Skills Developed**: Full body balance, leg strength, resilience.

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### 9. Kumir Denga (Crocodile Game)
- **How to Play**: One player acts as a crocodile. Others cross marked areas safely without getting caught in the “water” zones.
- **Skills Developed**: Alertness, quick reflexes.

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### 10. Hum Phoolon Ki Sadak Par Chalte Hain
- **How to Play**: Two teams challenge each other at a line by calling out names and trying to pull opponents across.
- **Skills Developed**: Strength, team spirit, strategy.

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### 11. Dodge Ball
- **How to Play**: A player in the center tries to hit others with a soft ball. The hit player becomes the new center.
- **Skills Developed**: Self-defence, agility, accuracy.

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### 12. Spoon Race
- **How to Play**: Players balance a lemon or marble on a spoon held in their mouth and race to the finish line.
- **Skills Developed**: Concentration, neck strength, patience.

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### 13. Gadda Maar
- **How to Play**: Players try to hit each other with a soft cloth ball while running. Hit players continue the game.
- **Skills Developed**: Reaction time, focus, agility.

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### 14. Tug of War (Rassa-Kashi)
- **How to Play**: Teams pull a rope trying to drag the other past a central line.
- **Skills Developed**: Overall strength, determination, teamwork.

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### 15. Three-Legged Race
- **How to Play**: Pairs run with adjacent legs tied together.
- **Skills Developed**: Coordination, balance, mutual respect.

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### 16. In and Out (Kullam-Kara)
- **How to Play**: Players jump in and out of a ring based on fast-paced verbal instructions.
- **Skills Developed**: Attention, leg strength, fast reactions.

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### 17. Light and Shade (Dhoop-Chaanv)
- **How to Play**: Teams must stay in either light or shadow areas. Players switch teams if tagged in opposite zones.
- **Skills Developed**: Agility, teamwork, adaptability.

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## New Terms and Definitions

| Term | Simple Definition |
|--------------|-------------------|
| Denner | The player who chases or starts the game |
| Satolia | Name for the game "Seven Stones" in some regions |
| Agility | Ability to move quickly and easily |
| Empathy | Understanding how others feel |
| Coordination | Using different parts of the body smoothly and together |
| Strategy | A plan to win |
| Balance | Staying steady without falling |
| Reaction time| How fast you respond to something |
| Stability | Being strong and steady |
| Endurance | Ability to keep doing something for a long time |

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## Practice Questions

### Easy (3)
1. **Name one game that uses a soft ball.**
*Answer: Dodge Ball or Gadda Maar.*

2. **What game uses a spoon and lemon?**
*Answer: Spoon Race.*

3. **In which game do players hop on one leg in a circle?**
*Answer: Cockfighting.*

### Medium (2)
4. **Explain how to play Golaap Togor in 2 lines.**
*Answer: Blindfolded players guess others based on touch and assigned fruit/vegetable names. Points are awarded for correct guesses.*

5. **Why do we tie legs together in the Three-Legged Race?**
*Answer: To develop balance and teamwork by running together as one.*

### Difficult (3)
6. **What happens if a player drops the marker in Hopscotch?**
*Answer: Their turn ends and they resume from the same square in the next round.*

7. **List three benefits of playing Aankh Micholi.**
*Answer: Enhances hearing, teamwork, and patience.*

8. **How is the winner decided in Tug of War?**
*Answer: The team that pulls the other team beyond the center line wins.*

### Very Difficult (2)
9. **Compare Kumir Denga and Light and Shade games. What is similar and what is different?**
*Answer: Both involve tagging and movement within marked areas. Kumir Denga has safe and danger zones (land/water), while Light and Shade has team switches based on light/shadow and tagging.*

10. **How can traditional games help build emotional and social skills? Give 2 examples.**
*Answer: Games like Golaap Togor teach empathy and memory; Chain games build unity and coordination by physically linking players.*

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