Games and Activities

This Activities Pack contains the following types of games and activities:

♣ Indian Games Page 2

♣ Games from Sangam Page 4

♣ Nivedita Guides Games and Song Page 6

♣ Sangam-related Activities Page 7

♣ World Sangam Day Fundraising Ideas Page 11

♣ Spirituality Page 12

♣ Culture Page 13

♣ Some Songs from Sangam Page 21

Acknowledgments

A big thank you to Vicki Callaway for putting this Activities Pack together, and thanks also to the
following people for contributing games, activities and ideas: Nirmala Bhakre, Vicki Callaway,
Judy Harris, Donna Lednicky, Gwen Lee, Emily Magnotta, Susan Randall, Eszter Toth, the
Sangam Nivedita Guides, Friends of Sangam (UK) and Friends of Sangam (New Zealand).

We also acknowledge the following resources that were used, and from which ideas were
obtained.

♣ Australian Friends of the World Centres Newsletters - No. 2 (2007), No. 6 (2008), No. 10
(2009), No. 14 (2010)

♣ FOS(UK) newsletters (Sangam Word Search)

♣ Sparkle Kit – FOS(UK) (How to make a Garland)

♣ The Heritage of Sarees Produced for the Department of Tourism, Government of India,
Visual Communications (“The way to drape a Saree” and “Choli creations”)

♣ WAGGGS Global Action Theme Badge Curriculum

(http://www.wagggsworld.org/en/grab/20082/1/2GATcurriculumENG.pdf, Page 18,
Activity 6 – Swat the Mozzie)

♣ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sari

♣ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangoli

♣ http://www.plantcultures.org/plants/coconut_spiritual.html
INDIAN GAMES

Kim’s Game on India

Pick 10 items that remind you about India and show them to the girls. Then cover the items and
ask the girls to draw or list as many of the items as they can. You could talk about each item
afterwards. This game could be organized a week in advance and instead of the Leader finding
all the items ask the girls to bring in any items they have at home that remind them of India.
Examples of things to use – an Indian flag, rice, sari (or any length of material), elephant,
coconut, snake (a toy one!), picture of Sangam, incense, a picture of Gandhi, camel, bangles,
nose ring, a colourful bedcover or sheet, cricket bat/ball, hockey stick, tea, motorcycle/bicycle,
picture of Taj Mahal.

Flower Game

Each girl has a flower and then stands on one foot. Putting the flower on the
inside of the other foot, she tosses it into the air and catches it on the foot.
Try and see how many times you can do this without dropping the flower or
losing your balance. In India it is often done 100 times or more!

Cheetal, Cheetah – a game where no one is out

The CheeTAL is a beautiful spotted deer and the CheeTAH is a large cat, traditionally trained by
Indian princes to chase deer.

Players line up in 2 even lines about 2 metres apart. They should stand back to back. Each team
has a home base/safe area about 6 metres away. The leader walks up and down between the
lines calling out “Chee – ee – ee – ee - .. and ends up with ‘Tal’ or ‘Tah’. If she says Cheetal,
the line of Cheetahs must chase the Cheetals while they run to their home base. If she says
Cheetah, they must run to their base as the Cheetals chase them. After each call everyone
returns to the middle in their lines. Anyone who was caught before reaching their home base is
transferred to the other team. The game continues until one line dwindles.

Bulbul Balloons

‘Bulbul’ is the name of an Indian Bird and also the name for the Indian
Guides age 5-10 years. Their Leader is called a ‘Flock Leader’.

Bulbuls sit in two lines facing each other. Each Bulbul’s feet must touch those
of the player sitting opposite her. She must not move during the game. The
Flock Leader throws a balloon between the players. Each side must try to hit it over the heads of
the opposite line. If it touches the floor behind the line it is counted as a goal for the team facing
that direction.

After each goal or if the balloon goes out of either end, the Flock Leader throws it in again.
Musical Circles

Draw 8 chalk circles (30 cm diameter) in a straight line about 30 cms apart on the floor
for 20 or more children.

Children move smartly or dance to fast music around the length of these circles.

When the music stops, they rush to the circles. The children who do not end up standing in a
circle are “out”.

After the first turn, two children who are "out" are chosen to sit in the circles at either end of
the line (so children must go around them as outer perimeter, from then on).

Start the music again - and a child sits in one of the circles after each
time the music stops (chosen from one of those who are "out" each
time).

The winner is the first child standing in the final remaining circle.

In India the children play this game using a tambourine.

Colours

When the leader calls out a colour, the players have to run and touch something that colour.
Players cannot use their own clothing and should always take at least 5 steps each time.
.
Use the Hindi words for the colours:

Hara = Green
Narangi = Orange
Lal = Red
Zambla = Purple
Pila = Yellow
Nila = Blue
Gulabi = Pink

Fruit Salad

Play Fruit Salad using the names of Indian fruits.

The girls stand in lines and instead of giving them a number, give them the name of a fruit from
India. When the Leader calls the name of the ‘fruit’ the girl is to run around a given point and
back to her line. First back wins the point for her team.

Afterwards you could make a real fruit salad using as many of these fruits as you can find in
your local shops. Limes, oranges, pineapples and bananas are also fruits of India.
Coconut Custard apple

Chikoo Papaya

Guava Mango

GAMES FROM SANGAM

Greetings

An ice breaker to discover greetings from different parts of the World.

Resources: Greetings from other Countries.

Write each Greeting and the Country on a strip of paper.

North American Arctic Inuit & New Zealand Maori: Rub noses

India: Place hands together at chest height and bow slightly

South Africa: Slap each hand and bump each hip

Philippines: Raise both eyebrows together while making eye contact.

Tanzania: Shake hands three times - the 1st and 3rd times in standard style and the 2nd like
arm wrestling.

Somalia: Take the other person's right hand and kiss it, then offer your right hand to be
kissed.

Japan: Bow from the waist to a 15 degree angle, palms on thighs, heels together.
Malaysia: Stretch out your hands and touch fingertips, then bring your hands to your heart
(same gender only).

Peru: Shake hands

Some Kenyan Tribes: Gently slap palms and grip each other's cupped fingers

Some Tibetan Tribes: Stick out your tongue.

Middle East: Sweep your right hand up to your heart

Can you find other Greetings you could use?

Give one greeting strip to each person. Ask people to walk around greeting others as described.
Allow enough time for people to experience many different kinds of greetings.

Discuss how the participants felt about the activity. Emphasise that there is huge variety in the
way people greet each other. This gives an indication of many other things which may also be
different. Discuss the misunderstandings that could arise due to differences, and the need for
understanding, awareness and tolerance. This leads on nicely into an exploring culture session.

Washing the Elephant Game

A fun mime game that demonstrates expectations, assumptions and the

fact that things are not always what they seem.

Pre-session planning:
Part of the fun of this game is its name. It has nothing to do with
elephants but participants will often use the name to create their own
assumption. Mention the name, write it in the event schedule etc….

Leader needed: Someone who is confident miming a car wash.

Divide the participants into groups and ask for 1 volunteer from each group.

Explain to everyone that you will silently act out a scene and 1 of the volunteers will watch while
the other volunteers are out of the room. Then, the next volunteer will be called in to watch the
1st volunteer silently act out the scene that they have just seen. 1 volunteer at a time, the
scene will be passed down the line.

Tell the group that the goal is to see if the scene can be exactly the same at the end of the
game as it was at the beginning.

Send all of the volunteers except one out of the room. Then tell the audience and the one
remaining volunteer that while the name of the game is Washing the Elephant, you will actually
mime washing a car. The audience’s job is to watch silently and report in at the end of the
game on changes they saw.

Act it out, calling the volunteers in one by one.

Sometimes the game results in an elephant and sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s always fun. After
all of the volunteers have played, show the original and explain to the volunteers the true
purpose of the mime. Ask the audience to tell you what changes they saw. Then, ask why there
were changes. Some possible answers are human error, expectations, people consider different
things to be significant, etc. Ask what can be learned from the game in relation to their
experience in different situations in life. For example, don’t assume that you have all of the
information, don’t assume that you are getting the message that others were trying to send,
different things mean different things to different people, our expectations influence our
interpretations, etc.

Swat the mozzie

In many countries, mosquitoes carry a parasite which causes a terrible

disease called malaria.

Malaria can be prevented by using mosquito nets and controlling the mosquito
population.
Play the swat the mozzie game then talk about how malaria can spread.
Advice for leaders: Each player should wear a paper hat with a picture of a
mosquito on it.

Each player is given a long sock or stocking with a sponge in the toe. The players must try to
knock each other’s hats off using their sponge ‘bat’. The last player still wearing her hat wins
the game! After playing the game, you could lead a discussion on how malaria spreads, and
how to help prevent it.

NIVEDITA GUIDES – GAMES AND SONG

Did you know that Sangam has its very own Guide Unit? The Nivedita Guides meet regularly in
the grounds of Sangam World Centre.

If you follow the link below, you can view a video showing two games played by the Nivedita
Guides, and a traditional Indian action song sung by the Nivedita Guides.

http://www.youtube.com/user/SangamWorldCentre#p/a/u/0/4r-UGIqGbkM
SANGAM-RELATED ACTIVITIES

SANGAM WORD SEARCH

WORD FUN

In 3 minutes how many words can you make by using the letters in SANGAM or
MAHARASHTRA?
 SANGAM & INDIA - BINGO

HOW TO PLAY

Paste the sheet with the questions on a piece of cardboard and give one copy to each
person/group. (You can also make a variety of sheets with, say, 9 squares each, so that each
person/group has a slightly different set of questions.)

Paste the answers on a piece of cardboard and cut out each square. Each person/group has a
set of answer squares.

The Leader calls out a question and each person/group must place the answer they think is
correct onto the relevant square.

The first person/group to complete the sheet calls out “BINGO”.

The Leader must check that the answers are correct. The first person/group to correctly
complete a sheet is the winner.

This can also be used as an activity for an individual to work at her own pace to find the correct
answers.

Which mountain In which State of What is the In what year Who was the
range lies to the India is Pune Sangam logo? was Sangam First Guider
North of India? situated. opened? In Charge
at Sangam?

Who officially What is the How often is Who can What does the
opened C.V.P? the CVP work or Sanskrit name
Sangam? programme volunteer at ‘Sangam’ mean?
run annually? Sangam?

Who can visit What is the What is the Who may What is the
Sangam? official Capital of become a name of the
language of India? Friend Memorial Hall
India? of Sangam? at Sangam?
The Himalayas Maharashtra 1966 Anu Karkare

World Chief Community Twice annually Any member of Coming

Guide – Volunteer for 3 months WAGGGS aged together
Lady Baden- Programme at least 21
Powell years

Anyone! Hindi New Delhi Anyone who is Lady Ratan

interested in Tata
the welfare of
Sangam

SERVICE PROJECT

Many Sangam events include contact with local service organizations such as orphanages,
mobile crèche and a school for deaf children.
http://www.sangamworldcentre.org/en/programmes/Partners

Find out more about the work of these service organizations, and challenge yourself to do some
volunteer work for a service organization in your Country.

Compare the needs of the people who are helped by your local organization with the needs of
the people who are helped by the Indian organizations. What are the greatest needs in each
country? Why?

SANGAM SCAVENGER HUNT

Display the information sheets from WSD003 Sangam at a Glance, WSD004 India at a Glance
and WSD005 Bharat Scouts and Guides at a Glance around your Hall.

Make up a list of 10 – 20 questions using the information on the sheets. Give each girl a
question sheet and give the girls 5 or 10 minutes to run around the Hall and find as many
answers as possible.

The winner is the girl with the most correct answers.

WORLD SANGAM DAY FUNDRAISING IDEAS

♣ Try out come new curry recipes and:

o have an Indian tasting night, asking guests to give a small donation for each
sample; or

o have an Indian Feast, selling serves of food to invited guests (parents, friends,
Guides and leaders from other units, etc).

♣ This year Sangam will be turning 44 years old. Challenge each girl to bring 44 coins (of
any denomination) during the term/year, and at the end donate all the money raised to
Sangam! As the coins come in, you could keep the coins in a jar, or stick them onto a
large piece of piece of paper –

OR

Enlarge a picture of Sangelee, the Sangam mascot and fill with the coins.

♣ Lay a large world map on a table (or draw a large map in chalk on the floor) and make a
coin trail from where you live to Pune, India (where Sangam is located) – do you have
enough coins to reach your destination?

♣ Hold a transport night, and discuss the differences and similarities between transport in
India and transport in your country (eg rickshaws vs taxis/trains/buses). Have a
“transport-a-thon” where the girls get sponsored to use a different form of transport for a
week (eg riding bicycles to school instead of being driven), or get sponsored to try as
many types of transport as possible in one day, then donate the proceeds to Sangam!

♣ Hire Slumdog Millionaire, and have a Movie Night. The girls could make popcorn. If they
donate even ¼ of the amount they would usually pay to go to a movie theatre and buy
popcorn, you will still be able to raise plenty of money for Sangam!
Spirituality
At Sangam, the staff often focus on the spiritual aspect of Guiding and Girl Scouting. Here are
two short activities you could use, as well as an inspirational story you may wish to share.

Anyone for a Chocolate Chip Cookie?

This is a great little activity to make the girls think about differences and similarities – in a fun
way. It’s suitable for all age groups.

Open a box of chocolate chip cookies in front of the girls and place them on a plate. Make sure
there is at least one each. Pass the tray around and ask each girl to pick one out and to hold it in
her hand. Ask her to look at it carefully and try to remember what it looks like. Then pass the
plate around again and ask them to put their cookies back. When all the cookies are collected,
ask them if they remember what their cookie looked like and if they think they could pick it out
now. Explain that people are a little like chocolate chip cookies – we may look a little different,
but we have the same ingredients inside us, and it doesn’t actually matter if we look different!

Finish the activity by giving each girl a cookie to enjoy.

10 Big Thanks You

Tune: Ten Little Indians

Ask the girls to think of something they have that they can be thankful for (e.g. friends, parents,
pets, Guiding). Everyone has the right to be grateful for whatever they choose.

Sing the words below, and when you reach the last word of the tune, everyone shouts out
whatever they are thankful for at the same time.

1 big, 2 big, 3 big thank yous,

4 big, 5 big, 6 big thank yous.
7 big, 8 big, 9 big thank yous,
10 big thank yous for……… .

A Good Turn Story from Sangam

Donald Ross was a Canadian man who fell sick. His neighbor’s daughter was a Brownie Guide
and decided that she could do a good turn by visiting the sick man everyday. And so she did.
When Mr. Ross got better he wanted to repay her for her generosity. However, like a good
Brownie Guide, she didn’t accept any money. Instead Mr. Ross made a generous donation to the
World Association of Girl Guides. That money was sent to Sangam and the driveway which is
lined with beautiful trees is now called the Donald Ross Driveway. His picture hangs in the
upstairs lounge of Sangam.
Culture
The following pages contain information about different aspects of Indian culture:

♣ Coconuts;

♣ Indian garlands (Leis);

♣ Sarees/Saris;

♣ Mehendi; and

♣ Rangoli.

You may wish to incorporate one or all of these aspects into your World Sangam Day
celebrations.

To help make your celebrations and teachings as authentic as possible, you might like to invite a
member of the local Indian community to come and speak to your girls about India. Perhaps he
or she could also teach you some words of Hindi, or teach you about some traditions and
customs from his/her part of India.

Festivals are also important parts of life in India.

One well-known festival is Diwali. Diwali, also called the Festival of Lights, is a Hindu celebration
held around October each year. You could have a “candle” themed meeting for Diwali, and
make your own lanterns.

Here are some websites that could help you with your Diwali night!

http://www.diwalifestival.org/

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/diwali.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali

http://festivals.iloveindia.com/diwali/
Coconuts
Coconuts are holy fruits in India and are used for most ceremonies. The
three ‘eyes’ on a coconut are said to represent the three-eyed god
Shiva. Everyday coconuts are offered at shrines and during religious
ceremonies. It is auspicious to break a coconut when embarking on a
new enterprise or journey.

The coconut is considered an important fruit because every part of it can be used – the husk for
fibre, the milk to drink and the flesh for food. Coconuts are grown in the state where Sangam is
located and so are readily available.

Coconut Day is celebrated during the monsoon (July – September). Fishermen who have had
to stop fishing due to rough seas want to resume their activities, so offer coconuts to Varuna –
the Lord of the Waters – by throwing them into the sea. The coconut is used as an offering to
the Gods because it is a holy fruit.

A coconut decorated with beads is usually given to a bridegroom by his

bride during the wedding service as a sign of good for their future life
together. It is also considered auspicious to break a coconut at a Shrine
when embarking on any new enterprise. During ceremonies, pieces of
coconut flesh are shared as food blessed by the Gods.
Sarees (also known as saris) are symbolic of Shakti. A woman’s saree is a
significant offering made to temple deities. They are given on auspicious
occasions such as marriages, births, temple feasts or to fulfill a vow. For
very special occasions, such as weddings, the saree may be woven
especially for the occasion. Sarees are traditionally made from silk or
cotton and particular colours may be used to mark different occasions.

Sarees are strips of coloured cloth between 4 and 9 metres in length that
are worn around the waist and draped over the shoulder in varying styles.
The cloth is often decorated with patterns, block prints, embroidery and
beads or imitation jewels/crystals. Particularly in cities and towns, sarees
are usually worn with the choli, a cropped blouse. However, many people
believe that this is a relatively recent addition.

Sarees are recognised throughout the World as symbolic of Indian culture.

Have a Mothers’ and Daughters’ Sari night – learn how to tie a Sari properly, have a
Sari fashion parade, see who can tie a Sari quickest, make Saris for paper dolls…
You could even ask for a gold coin donation, or charge 50 cents per game, to turn this
into a great Sangam fundraiser!
Mehendi is an ancient craft which was brought to India by the Moghuls.

It is used as a decoration on the hands and arms as well as on the feet.

It is worn by women of all casts and religions, except Christians, at certain festivals and
weddings. It is an intricate craft and it can take eight to ten hours for a bride to be
suitably decorated.

Henna leaves are crushed, ground and dried to make a powder. The powder is then
mixed with water and a little lime juice into a smooth paste and is allowed to stand
overnight.

It is applied either with a cone or a thin stick to make fine, delicate patterns.

Note: If you are trying this with your girls, please note that the patterns generally take 1 – 2 weeks to
fade.

MEHENDI
CONE

MEHENDI
DESIGNS
Rangoli is a traditional “sand painting” Hindu craft, which is particularly prevalent in
South India.

Particularly on special occasions or during festivals (especially Diwali), designs are made
at the doorway and in front of the house as a symbol of welcome to the Goddess
Lakshmi, who brings good luck and prosperity.

At Sangam, rangoli is often used to decorate around a plate or banana leaf when
enjoying a meal seated in the traditional manner – on the floor.

The name rangoli comes from the words rang (colour) and aavalli ('coloured creepers' or
'row of colours').

Originally rangoli powder was made from rice husks. Although the very traditional
people still use rice, white and coloured chalk-type powder is often used today.

To make the design, the powder is rubbed between the thumb and middle finger whilst
the hand is in motion, forming the desired picture/pattern.
Some Songs from Sangam

Munching Mangoes - To the tune of Frere Jacques

Munching mangoes, munching mangoes,

Mish mush mash, mish mush mash,
Jump into the river, jump into the river,
Splish splosh splash, splish splosh splash.

A little bit of Hindi - To the tune of Little Peter Rabbit

This Hindi song means “Maruti’s child has got a cold, So we rubbed him with hot oil”. Garam
means hot, tail means oil and malish means rub.

Maruti ke bacche ko sardi ho ga e x3

Ous ko garam tail se malish kar diya.
Garam, garam tail se malish kar diya x3
Ous ko garam tail se malish kar diya.

Land of the Elephant - To the tune of Land of the Silver Birch

Chorus: Sangam, an open door, I will return once more.

Boom di di eye dye, boom di di eye dye, Boom di di eye dye boom.

Land of the elephant, home of the rickshaw, where still the sacred cow
wanders at will.

There where the river flows, Sangam lies waiting, for all the Guides and
Scouts, Leaders and friends.

Caring and sharing, learning and loving, I will participate in an event.

I have fulfilled my dream to visit Sangam, my precious memories will carry me on.

I dream of future trips, to visit this Centre, I will return again, as soon as I can.