Traditional portuguese games
Cabra-Cega
The Blind She-Goat
Material: None
Where to play it: a flat clean ground
preferably with no holes on it
Participants: Many
Aim: The blind she-goat has to catch up
the other players and identify each one
by tact.
How to play it: The first player (the shegoat) is blindfold. The other players walk
around him/her, touch him/her while they
say "Blind She-Goat, Blind She-Goat, all
avoiding being caught up but without
going far from the blind she-goat. When
one of the players is caught up the shegoat is supposed to identify him/her
using her/his tact (his/her hands only). In
case he/she succeeds, the caught and
identified player is the next blind shegoat.
Caracol
Spiral Shell Game
Material: Small stones and pieces of chalk
Place: A clean and flat ground with no
holes
Number of Participants: No limit
Aim: To reach the center of the spiral shell
How to play: A large spiral shell, divided
into sections, is drawn on the ground/
floor. The first player throws a stone at the
first section of the spiral. He starts jumping
on one foot only and pushes the stone as
far as the center of the spiral shell. He has
to try avoid pushing it off limits. If this
happens, another player starts everything
over, and so on and so forth.
O senhor barqueiro
Mr. Boatman
Material: a bunch of kids
Place to play: a large outer area
Number of Participants: unlimited
Aim: to get the largest number of items possible
How to play: Two kids, hand in hand, choose a word each (name of fruit, animal, country
or whatever) not to allowing the other kids to know what their words are. The rest of the
kids line up and sing a song:
"Hello, Mr. Boatman, let us cross the river. We have children to care for."
"You will go, you will go, but someone will be barred, either the mother at the beginning
of the line, or the son at the end of it."
When the kids cross under the arch made by the two kids, the last one in line is barred.
He has to choose one of the two offered words. He is placed behind the kid whose word
he chooses.
When all kids make their choices of words, two groups are made. Next, both groups of
kids are divided by a line drawn on the ground. They all hold each other's hands and pull
back, as a line, as hard as they cant to avoid trespassing the line. The group that goes
across it loses the game.
Tic-tac-toe
•Tic-tac-toe, also called noughts and
crosses and many other names, is a
paper and pencil game between two
players, O and X, who alternate in
marking the spaces in a 3×3 board. A
player wins by getting three of their
own marks in a horizontal, vertical or
diagonal row. The game is very easy to
play.
•This game is won by the first player,
X: An example of a game.
•An example of a game.
Jogo do Sapo
Toad Game
The object of this game is to
toss and insert the disc into one
or more of the holes than
totaling the score. Each hole is
equivalent to a number. The
toad has his mouth open and if
inserted it has the highest points
(usually 100 points). The
person who scores the most
points wins.
Jogo do Pau
Portuguese Stick Fencing
The country has an ancient
martial art known as "Jogo do
Pau" (Portuguese Stick
Fencing), used for selfprotection and for duels between
young men in disputes over
young women. Having its origin
in the Middle Ages, Jogo do Pau
uses wooden staves as a combat
weapon. Other sports are the
"Jogos Populares", a wide
variety of traditional sports
played for fun.
Jogo de Argola
Ring Toss Game
At a distance 4 rings
are tossed to loop
around a stick. Each
stick has a number
(1,2,3,4 or 5). The one
in the middle has the
highest point. The
person who scores the
most points wins.
Andas
Stilts
Walking on stilts you
can do races of stilt
runners.
Trying to keep your
balance is a tough
task.
Football
Football is a team sport played
between two teams consisting
of eleven players each. It is a
ball game played on a
rectangular grass field with a
goal at each end. The objective
of the game is to score by
maneuvering the ball into the
opposing goal. Other than the
goalkeepers, players may not
use their hands or arms to
propel the ball in general play.
The winner is the team which
has scored most goals at the end
of the match.
Marbles
Berlindes
Material: Marbles (metal or glass spheres)
Place: Plain and flat ground/surface on the ground
Number of Participants: any number
Aim: To put the marbles into the appropriate holes.
How to play: Contestants make three holes on the ground. Each player throws the
marbles once; the one who throws it further starts the game. Their aim is to try to
successfully put all the marbles into the three holes, which lie one after the other along
an imaginary straight line. All players try their turn by pushing the marbles as far as the
holes with their fingers. When the player reaches the last hole he tries everything
backwards. As the player succeeds through all phases he is allowed to try to hit the
other players' marbles by pushing the spheres with his/her fingers on the ground. When
he/she hits them they become his/hers.
Jogo da Macaca
Monkey Game
Material: a small smooth stone, paint
or similar (chalk, for example) to draw
the female monkey on the ground
Place/Site: a paved floor or drawing
surface on the ground
Number of Participants: 6 to 12
players
Aim of the game: to throw the stone
at all drawn "houses"/sections; to
jump with one foot at all the
houses/marked sections without
touching the marks on the ground or
falling and to try to collect the thrown
stone. You have to skip the house
where the stone is.
How to play: you throw the stone at
the first house and start jumping with
one foot only at all the houses but the
one where the stone is. You collect
the stone and step on all the other
houses. You repeat the process until
you have thrown at and collected the
stone from all the houses. Whenever
you miss the target at throwing the
stone you are out of the game.
Os cinco
cantinhos
Five Corners
Material: Five corners drawn on the ground
Ideal place: any piece of ground with much space to run
Number of Participants: Six players
Goal: To change places and keep a new place/position at the same time. Do not allow
the player in the middle of the "circle" to take any other players' position.
How to play it: Five players stand on each corner and there is a sixth player standing in
the middle of the selected ground. This player approaches every other player and asks
for "light" or " fire." If the other ones say "No," he keeps on asking that until one agrees
with his request. When that happens, he takes the player's position and that other player
takes the central position, with no specific corner. Next, he approaches someone to ask
for "Light;" the other players change places, and try to get another position. All five
players must avoid the one in the center of the circle to take each one's position/place
while they change places.
End
Work realized by pupils of 5º6ª
2005/2006