Games

"Use Your Head" Relay Race
Women in Congo often walk long distances carrying bundles on their heads, and the girls in the family learn to do so as well. In this relay, kids can see how well they'd do in Congo. You may want to team the girls against the boys, since this is generally a female chore, but that's not necessary.

Prepare ahead of time a bundle of "clothes" or a pot or tray or other item that each team is expected to carry. It will need to be fairly self-contained, no loose ends flopping around. Line the teams up, and each person in turn must carry the bundle on his or her head to a fixed point across the room and then back again to hand it off to the next person. You may want to make a rule that if a bundle drops, that person goes back to the starting (or the halfway) line.

Congolese Football
"Football" is the name used for soccer in Congo, as in much of the world. Boys in Congo love to play soccer, but they don't often have real soccer balls to play it with. So they improvise, using everything from a wad of rags tied together to a grapefruit. (We're not suggesting the grapefruit! If you are playing out of doors and parents won't mind a little grapefruit juice, you're welcome to try it -- at your own risk!)

Divide the group into two teams and give each team the task of coming up with its own ball. You'll have to think ahead and make sure that there are some kinds of resources available in the space you're using. Once both teams have finished their balls, stage a short soccer game, and the ball that lasts the longest is judged the winner.

To add a bit of international awareness, you can make everybody say "football" instead of "soccer" throughout this activity.

Tobeta Maboko
This is an African clapping game. It is often played at school or between household tasks. It is essentially played like the "Rock, Scissors, Paper" game, only it is done with the hands and feet to a clapping beat.

First, the clapping beat: The beat is 1,2,3, pause, 1,2,3, pause, 1!

Second, the action: As the players clap the last, single beat, they jump into the air. Then in a quick motion, as they are about to land, they make their choice.

The choices are:

1. Right foot out in front

2. Left foot out in front

3. Feet split apart side-by-side

If you want, you can make up your own way of scoring these three outcomes. Or you can use "Rock, Scissors, Paper" to help you score. When the right foot is forward you can call that "ROCK," as it begins with "R." You can call the split "SCISSORS," since it begins with "S." When the left foot is forward, you can call it "PAPER," the only choice left. (You know how those go, don't you? Rock breaks Scissors, Scissors cuts Paper, Paper covers Rock. The kids will know!)

The players (especially in pairs) should be looking at each other's faces and not at the other's feet. The game can be played with any number of participants or in small groups.

But here's a note: If you think you're not doing this game right, compared with the video clips of it, don't worry about it. This is a game! You and your friends can make your own rules. If you're having fun with it, that's all that counts.

Some variations:

1. Illumination -- Large groups reduce to one last player as everyone competes with the leader. All who win over the leader remain in the game and the others sit down. The last one standing wins and becomes the leader of the next game.

2. Round Robin -- Can be a large or medium-sized group. Stand in a circle and begin with a random player. The player "plays off" with the person on their right. The last one standing wins.

3. One-on-One -- Pairs play for a set number of points, receiving a point each time they win a round. The first one to reach the total wins.

Thanks to the ECC Dept. of World Mission for sharing their great source material on the games with us.