Wednesday, February 29, 2012

What Does the Wind Blow?- Game


My understanding (and please, correct me if I'm wrong) is that 吹什麼吹? (Chuī shénme chuī?, What does the wind blow?) is a traditional Chinese children's game.  It is similar to musical chairs in that there is a ring of chairs and one child sits in each chair.  There is another child that stands in the middle with no chair.  The child in the middle says, "大風," (Dà fēng chuī, A big wind blows) and the children sitting in the chairs respond, "吹什麼吹?" (Chuī shénme chuī?, What does the wind blow?).  The child in the middle then calls out something that some of the children have in common like a color.  For instance, if the child in the middle called out "," (Lán sè, blue) then every child wearing blue would stand up and try to get to a different chair.  The child in the middle will also find an empty chair so that (hopefully) a new child is left in the middle standing and the game begins again.

This game helps to develop listening skills and practices target vocabulary.  Colors and clothing are natural vocabulary to use with this game, but you could also get creative and call out things like, "有第第得人." (Yǒu dì'dì dé rén, (People that) have a younger brother.)  You could also pass out papers with the target vocabulary (for example, , , (zài, shì, hěn, to be at, to be, very).  Just be sure each vocabulary word is passed out at least twice.

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