Students at Crossfield Elementary School spent Dec. 9 and 10 learning about other countries through various popular games in each culture.
"This actually began as a writing project for my class," said Megan Carnahan, English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) teacher. "I asked them to bring in games from their country or games that they're parents played."
Carnahan said the third through sixth grade classes she works with had to write about each game, explaining the rules and how to play.
From there she decided it would be a fun way for the entire student body to learn about other cultures through the popular games they play — and a way for her ESOL students to teach their classmates about their culture.
"It's independent," she said about the learning environment where the children could move between games learning how to play. "Teachers love it because everyone's engaged."
Carnahan said usually the school does a museum for the students to learn about various cultures.
Some of the games that students brought in included, Kendama — a Japanese game where the goal is to rest an attached red ball on top of a small platform handle; Mancala — an African board game centered on moving stones from multiple locations to one location faster than a competitor; pick up sticks; connect the dots — brought in as a popular game in Iran; Takyan — a game from the Philippines that mirrors American hacky sacks; Chinese Checkers; Shakuni Ishu — a Japanese card game; and Sapo, a Peruvian game brought in by a volunteer, where the goal is to throw coins into a small opening of a brass frog's mouth in addition to throwing into surrounding holes worth points.