Finnish Games

European Adventure

A new communicative board game created by the students and teachers of Lyseo comprehensive school of Joensuu and IES Miguel de Cervantes.

Download and print the game: 

1. European Adventure game board

2. Rules/strategy

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Rules to some popular Finnish games to be taught to Spanish primary school pupils during the Finnish students’ mobility in March 2017. These rules were written in English by the students chosen to participate in the mobility. Pictures/videos to be published after the mobility.

1) The cat and the mouse (Kissa ja hiiri) 

Can be played indoors or outdoors.

Made by: Kerttu, Tuuli, Kaisla, Linnea

1. Everyone picks a pair

2.  Choose a cat and a mouse

3. All the other pairs go to lie down on the ground on their stomach

4. The cat starts to chase the mouse

5. The mouse can save itself by going to lie down next to someone on the ground

6. The person on the other side becomes a mouse so he needs to get up and start running to avoid getting caught by the cat

7. When the cat catches the mouse, the mouse becomes the cat

2) Dragon’s Tail (Lohikäärmeen häntä)

Can be played indoors, but preferably outdoors.

Made by: Kerttu, Tuuli, Kaisla, Linnea

1. Make a line

2. The last person in a line gets “the tail”

3. The first person tries to catch “the tail” by running

4. When the first person catches “the tail” he goes to the end of the line and gets “the tail”

3) Purkkis

Made by: Oskar, Eemil T., Eemil M. and Aaro

To be played outdoors.

1. One player is the seeker and one of the other players kicks a ball far away. While the seeker is trying to find the ball the other players hide somewhere.

2. Then the seeker takes the ball back to the starting point and after that he starts looking for the hiding players.

3. If the seeker sees a hiding person, the seeker must run to the ball and shout the person´s name. The person whose name was shouted is caught and must come to the starting point by the ball.

4. The other players can save the caught players by kicking the ball away. In this case the caught players are released and can run away and hide again. Thus the seeker must find the ball again…

5. But if the seeker can see the person who is trying to save the others and can run to the ball and shout the person´s name the person is caught.

4) The Pony game (Ponileikki ) 

Made by: Aino, Shähla, Jenny and Iiris

Can be played indoors or outdoors.

1. First you form a circle and one player stays in the center of it. That person starts to run around the circle when others sing:

“Tuolta he saapuvat poneillansa, pienillä paksuilla poneillansa. Tuolta he saapuvat poneillansa ja kertoo meille näin.”

2. At this point the person in the center of the circle stops opposite of another player and starts to dance to this:

“Vatsa vatsa vatsaa vasten” when the players rub their bellies together.
“Kylki kylki kylkeä vasten” when the players rub their sides together.
“Peppu peppu peppua vasten” when the players rub their butts together.
“Ja kertoo meille näin…” then the players do a high five.

3. After that the 2 players that danced will run around the circle together and stop face-to-face with another person and repeat the dance. After that the 4 dancers will run around the circle again and the game ends when all the players have danced.

5) Ten Sticks on a board (Kymmenen tikkua laudalla)

Made by: Iiris, Santtu, Thomas and Eero

To be played outdoors

 What do you need?

-10 sticks (or you can use for example pencils)

-a board

-enough players

Rules

1. First of all, you have to choose a seeker who finds other players.
2. The game begins when someone kicks the board and sticks fly everywhere. The seeker has to pick up every single stick and he/she has to place them back to the board.
3. Meanwhile, other players try to hide from the seeker.
4. When the seeker has collected all the sticks, he/she starts looking for the hiders.
5. If the seeker spots someone he/she has to run straight to the board and shout his/her name. The ones whose names have been shouted must come near to the board.
6. When the seeker has seen everyone and shouted their names, the first one who has been caught will be the next seeker, but if the seeker has only seen some of the players you (or someone else who hasn’t got caught) can save them by kicking the board, and then the seeker has to recollect all the sticks before he/she can try to find other players again.

This is basically like ”hide and seek” but with a board and ability to save other players.

6) Tar pit (Tervapata)

Made by: Noora, Daniel, Sami, Saga

To be played outdoors

1. First you have to draw a big circle with a chalk (or a stick) on the ground. Then draw
   as many smaller circles as there are players around the bigger circle.
2. Choose one person as “the tar cook”. The other players settle in their
   places
3. “The tar cook” starts to walk or run around the circle (behind the
   other players’ back) with a stick or some other object. PLAYERS MUST NOT
   TURN TO LOOK BEHIND BEFORE THE COOK HAS GONE PAST!
4. The cook drops the stick behind one of the people standing in the circle
   and then starts running around the circle and the “chosen” person picks
   up the stick and starts running in the opposite direction.
5. This is a race: the one who makes it back to the starting place (=the
   “nest”) first can stay there and the one who is the slowest becomes the
   new “cook”
6. To make the game even more fun “the cook” can cheat so that
   he pretends to drop the stick behind someone’s back and starts to
   run but in reality the stick remains in the cook’s hands.

 

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Finnish Folk Songs and Dances

Introduction to a traditional Finnish folk song “Lintu lensi oksalle” by the preschool teacher of Utra school, Leena Horttanainen.

“Lintu lensi oksalle”. A traditional Finnish folk song and dance performed by the preschool pupils of Utra School, Joensuu, Finland.

Lyrics in Finnish: “Lintu lensi oksalle, lauloi niitä näitä. Lintu lensi oksalle lauloi niitä näitä. Tule, joudu, oma kulta, että saatais häitä. Tule joudu, oma kulta, että saatais häitä. Hauska on olla, kun löysin oman kullan. Hauska on olla, kun löysin oman kullan.Oman kullan kainalossa on niin lysti olla. Oman kullan kainalossa on niin lysti olla.”

Free translation into English: “A bird flew up to a branch, sang about this and that. Come, hurry, my darling, so that we can get wed. It’s good to have found my own sweetheart. It’s so good to be in his arms.”

“Hansvilivili hanslailai”. A traditional Finnish folk song and dance performed by the preschool pupils of Utra School, Joensuu, Finland.

Lyrics in Finnish: “Tule tule tule piirihin leikkimään sinäkin, valitse itselles ystävä uus. Hansvilivili hans lai lai, hansvilivili hans lai lai, tottakai minäkin ystävän saan.”

Free translation into English: “Come along to play in the circle, choose a new friend to yourself. Hans vili vili…. Surely, I will get a friend, too.”

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Popular games in Finland

These nine Adobe Spark presentations were made by class 9A/2016-17.  We cannot tell if any of these are originally Finnish games, but at least they are well-known and commonly played by Finnish kids.

1)  City War (Kaupunkisota). An indoor game.

2)  Paskahousu (in direct translation “Shitpants”) A card game.

3) Pig Baseball (Sikapesis) . An indoor variation of Finnish Baseball

4)  Colours

5) Musical chairs  This seems to be a popular children’s party game in many countries.

6) Mirror (Peili) An indoor/outdoor game.

7) Hide and seek (Kuurupiilo) A game played by children all around the world.

8) Policemen and thieves (“Poke ja roke”) One of the most popular games among Finnish primary school kids during breaks.

9) Between two fires

10) Knot (Solmu)

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Pekka-game

Pekka-game (originally called Musta Pekka, “Black Pekka”) is the Finnish variant of the traditional card game named “Old Maid” created in England during the Victorian times. You can also play the traditional English “Happy Families” game with the cards. All Finnish children are familiar with the game.

We organised a competition for our students (and their families)asking them to come up with new ways to use the cards for the purposes of language learning. We promised a reward for the best three suggestions.

Here is the winning suggestion by Laura Tynkkynen, 7B both in English and Finnish. Well done, Laura!

THE ASK AND TELL (and think funny) PEKKA GAME

An easy Pekka game of ask and tell for all English learners. Best played with pairs or in a small group, but can be played alone too. A game developed by Laura Tynkkynen and Jutta Tynkkynen.

Basic game rules in English: Shuffle the cards, and each player will pick one card in his/her turn. The player in turn will show the card to the other players. The others will ask questions about the card character (for example: “Who is she?”, “What does she like?”), one question each in turn. And the player who picked the card will answer to the questions, either from the picture or just by using as much imagination as one can, so think funny!

The answers can vary depending on the level of English mastered by the students. It can be brief like “She likes to eat paella”. Or it can be as imaginative as the player wants to, for example: “Her favorite colours are red and yellow, because she likes Spain”, or “She lives in the sunny and warm city of Joensuu”.

And always remember to help your friends!

In case you play alone, you can think up the questions and answers by yourself and write them down.

You can also take this question list to help the players to make up questions. Or just make up fun questions on your own – Who is she/he? – Where does she/he live? – In a what kind of a house does she/he live? – How old is she/he? – What does she/he like? – What is her/his favorite food? – What is her/his favorite colour? – What hobbies does she/he have? – Where does she/he work? What school does she/he go to? – Does she/he like football/movies/chocolate/cats etc.? – What colour is her/his hair/shirt/house etc.? – What colour are her/his eyes/shoes/dogs etc.?

You can also get the game more interesting by taking some of these extra rules to the game.

”Pekka card” rule: The Pekka card will change the roles of the askers and the teller.

In case the player picks up the Pekka card, you swap the roles of the askers and the teller. When you get the Pekka card, you pick a new card, put the Pekka card back to the deck and ask questions about the new card character from the other players. Now they have to answer. The next player does the same, and asks the questions. When the Pekka card comes around again, the roles are swapped back again. The Pekka card is put back into the deck again and the card pickers have to answer to questions again, like in the beginning of the game.

“One big ridiculous family” rule: A one big ridiculous family is made during the game.

First you pick up a starting card and put it on the table (for example Mr. Filmi). Then the player who picks the next card has to tell first who this card character is and how it is related to the starting card. For example, “This is Mr. Meri. He is Mr. Film’s grandpa.” After this the other players ask their questions like they normally do and the card picker answers. The next player picks up the next card and does the same, tells who this character is and how it’s related to the last card. And he/she gets to answer the questions from the other players. And so on. The unfolding family tree can also be written down on to paper, if the players choose to.

Here are some keywords to give you some ideas about the big family. – wife/husband/aunt/uncle/granny/grandpa – mom/dad/daughter/son/brother/sister/cousin – boss/teacher/pupil/dentist/neighbor/hairdresser etc.

“If you want more challenge” rule: No more questions, just telling.

You can make the game a little bit more challenging, if every player has to tell herself/himself about the card character he/she picked up. For example he/she can tell who this character is, where the character works and lives, what hobbies does he/she have, what the character likes and other fun stuff like that. For example, “This is Mr. Filmi. He is a photographer and he lives in Finland. He likes to eat strawberries, but only when visiting Spain.”

When you pick the Pekka card in this game mode, the roles are swapped. Now the other players have to tell about the card character and the card picker doesn’t have to tell anything. And this goes on until the Pekka card comes around again and the roles are swapped back to normal.

Here’s a list of keywords to help players to tell about their card characters. – likes to play – likes to eat – likes/loves – works – goes to – favorite food / colour /book / movie /game – a dog/a cat/a pet called – lives in – years old – hobby is / hobbies are – city / countryside / forest /mountain /by the lake / at seaside

Pelisäännöt suomeksi:

Sekoitetaan kortit, jokainen pelaaja nostaa vuorollaan yhden kortin ja näyttää sen muille. Muut pelaajat saavat kysyä yhden kysymyksen kortin hahmosta, esimerkiksi: ”Kuka hän on?” ,”Mistä hän pitää?”. Kortin nostanut henkilö keksii kuvasta/ omasta päästä vastauksen. Ja mielikuvitusta saa käyttää niin paljon kuin haluaa, so think funny!

Vastaus voi olla pelaajien tasosta riippuen lyhyt ja ytimekäs, kuten ”She likes to eat paella”. Tai se voi olla pitempi lause tai virke, esimerkiksi: “Her favorite colours are red and yellow, because she likes Spain”, tai “She lives in the sunny and warm city of Joensuu”. Ja kaveria on aina lupa auttaa! Mikäli peliä pelaa yksin, voi itse keksiä korttiin liittyvän kysymyksen ja miettiä vastauksen. Halutessaan voi kirjoittaa kysymyksiä/vastauksia paperille ylös.

Pelissä voi ottaa käyttöön esimerkkikysymyslistan helpottamaan pelaajien kyselemistä. Omia kysymyksiä saa myös tietenkin keksiä. – Who is she/he? – Where does she/he live? – In a what kind of a house does she/he live? – How old is she/he? – What does she/he like? – What is her/his favorite food? – What is her/his favorite colour? – What hobbies does she/he have? – Where does she/he work? What school does she/he go to? – Does she/he like football/movies/chocolate/cats etc.? – What colour is her/his hair/shirt/house etc.? – What colour are her/his eyes/shoes/dogs etc.?

Peliin saa vaihtelua ottamalla halutessaan seuraavia lisäsääntöjä käyttöön.

Pekka-kortin lisäsääntö: Pekka-kortilla roolit vaihtuvat.

Jos pelaaja nostaa Pekka-kortin, vaihtuu kyselijöiden ja vastaajien roolit. Tällöin pelaaja nostaa uuden kortin, sekoittaa Pekka-kortin takaisin pakkaan ja kyselee uudesta kortista kysymyksiä muilta pelaajilta, jotka joutuvat nyt vastaamaan kysymyksiin. Seuraava pelaaja toimii samalla tavalla, eli kyselee nostamastaan kortista muilta pelaajilta. Kun joku pelaajista nostaa taas Pekka-kortin, roolit vaihtuvat takaisin ennalleen, jolloin kortin nostajat joutuvat jälleen vastaamaan muiden pelaajien kysymyksiin, ja Pekka-kortti sekoitetaan jälleen takaisin pakkaan.

One big ridiculous family -lisäsääntö: Pelissä tehdään korttien hahmoista yksi suuri hassu suku.

Pakasta nostetaan pöydälle aloituskortti (esimerkiksi Mr. Filmi), jonka jälkeen seuraavan kortin nostanut pelaaja kertoo aluksi kuka kortin hahmo on ja miten tämä liittyy edelliseen korttiin. Esimerkiksi “This is Mr. Meri. He is Mrs. Film’s grandpa.” Tämän jälkeen muut pelaajat voivat taas esittää kysymyksiä, johon kortin nostanut pelaaja vastaa. Seuraava pelaaja nostaa sitten taas seuraava kortin ja kertoo kuka tämä hahmo on ja miten se liittyy edelliseen. Suvun vaiheet voidaan halutessa kirjoittaa myös paperille ylös.

Apulista: – wife/husband/aunt/uncle/granny/grandpa – mom/dad/daughter/son/brother/sister/cousin – boss/teacher/pupil/dentist/neighbor/hairdresser etc.

If you want more challenge –lisäsääntö:

Pelistä voi tehdä astetta vaikeamman, jos kysymysten/vastausten sijaan jokainen pelaaja kertookin itse nostamastaan kortista kuka hahmo on ja mitä tämä harrastaa/missä työskentelee ja mistä tämä pitää ja muuta kivaa keksimäänsä. Esimerkiksi: “This is Mr. Filmi. He is a photographer. He likes to eat strawberries, but only in Spain.” Pekka-kortin nostaminen tarkoittaa tässä pelimoodissa sitä, että muut kertovat kortin hahmosta, eikä kortin nostaneen pelaajan tarvitse kertoa mitään. Kunnes taas Pekka-kortti ilmestyy ja roolit vaihtuvat takaisin.

Pelissä voi ottaa käyttöön esimerkkisanontalistan helpottamaan hahmosta kertomista. – likes to play – likes to eat – likes/loves – works – goes to – favorite food / colour /book / movie /game – a dog/cat/pet called – lives in – years old – hobby is / hobbies are – city / countryside / forest /mountain /by the lake / at seaside

Game suggestions by class 7D/spring 2016:

MEMORY GAME

To be played in the same way as regular memory game (find pairs):

Mix up the cards and lay them in rows or randomly, face down on a desk. (To simplify: choose only some families)

Turn over any two cards. Every time you turn over a card, you have to describe what is happening in the picture. If the cards match (= represent the same family) you may keep them.

Two variations of how to win:

1. The winner is the player who collects the most matches.
2. The winner is the player who finds the Pekka-card.

MUISTIPELI

Tavallisen muistipelin säännöt, paitsi

– kaikki samasta perheestä olevat kortit muodostavat parin

– aina kun kääntää kortin, pitää kertoa englanniksi mitä kortissa tapahtuu

– jos ei osaa kertoa englanniksi mitä korteissa tapahtuu, ei saa kortteja

– jos saa Pekan, voittaa

GUESS WHO?

The idea is to describe the character on a card in English and let the others guess which card/character you are describing.

Lay all the cards face up so that everybody can see them.

Each player in turn describes one character (eg looks, clothes, background, possessions/other objects, activity) – without revealing which card or family he is referring to. The person who is the quickest to guess which card is being described gets a point. The winner is the player who is the first to gather 5 points.

Number of players: 3 <

ARVAA HENKILÖ

Pelaajia vähintään 3.

Pelin idea on kuvailla jotain korttien henkilöistä englanniksi ja myös arvata muiden selityksiä. Kaikki kortit asetetaan pöydälle siten, että

kaikki pelaajat näkevät ne. Jokainen vuorollaan kuvailee yhtä jonkun kortin henkilöä englanniksi. Selittäjä ei saa tietenkään kertoa henkilön

nimeä/mihin perheeseen se kuuluu. Nopein arvaaja saa pisteen.

Pelin voittaja on se, joka saa ensimmäisenä kerättyä 5 pistettä.

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Finnish Adventure Board Game

This game was created by several classes of 8th formers during their English lessons in cooperation with some students in their Art lessons. The target players of this game are students across Europe. The aim is to spread information about Finnish culture, history, geography and way of life to as wide a public as possible. This game was also donated to our Spanish partner school during our teacher mobility in April 2016.

Download the printable game board, rules, score chart and question cards from here:

Game Board/Finland 

Rules and score chart

Question cards (Print out, fold vertically, glue together so that the question is on one side and the answer on the other, then cut horizontally into cards)

Rules in Finnish/Säännöt suomeksi

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African Star by class 8F /February 2016

Observations on the historical background of African Star

African Star is a Finnish board game created by Kari Mannerla published in 1951. African Star has been translated into over 16 languages and over 4 million copies have been sold. Kari Mannerla has said that he was inspired by some Humphrey Bogart movies and that the name came from an article that he once read about the world’s biggest diamond, the Great Star of Africa.

Nowadays, when taking a closer look at the game board with its pictures and symbols, you could claim that it shows the African continent in a rather old-fashioned, colonial and imperialistic light. It shows white people as conquerors and black people as savages. We must remember, though, that back in the 1950s most of Africa was still colonized by European countries. Also, in Finland, as opposed to nowadays, very few people had seen a coloured person, so the attitudes in those days towards what was politically correct were very different. The game board gives a rather romantiziced picture of the continent with all its exciting destinations and exotic wildlife. African star is a game that has been played by millions of Finnish people since the 1950s and in older generations playing the game with their children and grandchildren stirs up a lot of nostalgia. It remains an interesting question to ask ourselves how much the game might have affected (even distorted?) our impressions and views of Africa when we were children and whether we still hold on to these views to some extent.

Learn how to play the game by watching our Adobe Voice presentations!

African Star: Part 1

African Star: Part 2

African Star: Part 3

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Here are the AdobeVoice presentations by class 9A (2015-16) on two traditional Finnish games. Videos to illustrate how to play the games will be published later this spring.

The rules for a Finnish game called CS.

Another traditional game called Kirkonrotta.

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HOW TO PLAY MÖLKKY:

Check out our Youtube publication on a traditional game called Mölkky by class 8E/2015-16. Special thanks to Kerttu Vähä, Roosa Balk and Santtu Räsänen who spent a lot of time and effort on editing the video!

We donated a game set to our partner school and, as you can see, they have also translated the rules into Spanish – now to be seen in their school corridor.