Polish kids' traditional games from the past

In the past children spent free time playing completely different games than they play nowadays. It's especially visible in the era of computers and Internet. Students from ks. Kwiatkowski School in Bychawa spent some time talking to their parents and grandparents about the most popular  games from the past. First, they learnt the rules, then with the help of their teacher, Mr. Paweł Dudek, used the knowledge in practice. They had a lot fun and decided to share their experience with everybody.

"KLASY /CLASSES" - you draw a scheme on the ground and then you must complete seven stages of the game by jumping on the squares marked with numbers 1-8. Before you can start jumping, you must throw a little stone on the right square in the numbers order. If you don't manage to place the stone on a right square, make a mistake performing the jumps or step on a line, you must let another person try.

"DWA OGNIE / CROSSFIRE" - is a game for several children. You need a playing field and a ball. In this game two teams compete, they should have the same number of players. Players throw the ball at each other trying to hit their opponents. To score points you must eliminate all opposite players by hitting them. You mustn't cross the lines which mark the field. You get the points if the ball which you throw hits your opponent and he doesn't manage to catch it. A hit player must leave the field. The first team without the players loses the game. 

"PAŃSTWA / WAR OF COUNTRIES" - children draw a large circle on the ground and divide it into several parts which are given the names of countries. Then one person stands in the middle of the circle and the others run away as far as possible in a few seconds. Then they stop and the person in the middle of the circle, who goes to war, takes a little stick and throws into a chosen person trying to hit them. If he succeeds, he can take over the other person's piece of the country. While carving out a fragment of the country with a chalk, he must stand on straight legs - which makes it a bit more difficult. The aim of the game is to "invade and occupy'' the other countries' territories.

"GUMA / WAISTBAND" - a game which needs players to be very skillful and agile, two children put an elastic waistband around their ankles and spread it. The third person performs a series of steps and jumps over the waistband to complete this stage. If she/he does it, they can move to a next stage. The waistband is moved up to the knee height, then, in the next stage to the hip, armpit, and finally neck height! If you fail to do something correctly, you step aside and another person has a go. The person who completes all the stages in one row, wins.