ROMANIAN TRADITIONAL

GAMES
 Cops and robbers/thieves
and cops
O A team has to catch thieves. The rules can be different
from place to place.
O The thieves are allowed to hide possibly the maximum
period in which to stay hidden in a place. It is based on
sincerity.
O The one who is seen first claims to have been shot
(usually shouting ‘bang-bang’ and pronouncing the name
of the person).
 The old blind lady
O One of the children is blindfolded and tries to catch the others
who are running away from him/her. He/she has a scarf tied on
their eyes.
O The space in which the game will be played is limited and
children are not allowed to leave that area.
O Once a player has been caught, Old Blind Lady tries to guess
the name, by touching the player. If successful, that child
becomes Old Blind Lady. If not, he/she is trying to catch
somebody else.
 Tangled mates
O It can be played both indoors and outdoors
O It is played in a team of at least 4 players. At the beginning, a
child is chosen to handle the ‘mates’. He is not allowed to
watch what the tanglers are doing. They sit in a circle, holding
hands and tangling, passing under each other’s hands, in
different directions.
O At the signal, everyone stops and the one who wasn’t allowed
to watch returns and tries to untangle the mates. Players are not
allowed to take their hands off during the game.
O The game ends when every player has their hands back again. If
not, the game restarts.
 Country, country, we want
soldiers! 
O It trains team spirit, strategy and speed.
O Two teams play outside, placed at a distance, in 2 parallel rows.
O The members of each team hold hands.
O One team shouts: „Country, country, we want soldiers!” The other
team chooses a member to send, to break the wall made by the
opposing team.
O If the chosen one breaks the opponents’ line, he/she has the right to
choose a soldier and take him/her to his team.
O If he fails to get through the hands of the opposing team, he’ll remain
a prisoner in that team.
O The team that runs out of members loses.
 Ducks and hunters  

They play at least 4, of which two are hunters and must hit
the ducks that are in between the hunters. The ball is thrown
from a hunter to another, trying to hit a duck or more. If one
duck catches the ball, it gets extra life.
The ducks hit by the ball must leave the game.
When there is one duck left, hunters will throw the ball a
number of times equal to the duck’s age. If they hit it, the
game is over, if not, the duck wins and the game is restarted
with the same hunters.
 The little donkey  

 Three players are chosen, one will stand in the middle as

‘Little Donkey’ and the olther two will have to throw the
ball from one to the other so that the one in the middle does
not catch it.
In case he catches it, the one who passed the ball wrongly
will replace the ‘Little Donkey’.
 Hide-and-seek 
O A searcher must find hidden players in a particular area.
O The seeker must stand facing a wall or tree with eyes
closed without peeking, while the others are hiding. He
counts aloud to a certain number previously set. At the
end of counting, he shouts in a loud voice: „Ready or"
not?”, and starts looking for players.
O If during the search, he/she discovers a player, then shouts
out the name and has to run back to the wall/tree to touch
it with the hand. If it’s the wrong name, then all come out
and scream: "You've broken pots and ate stuffed
cabbage!”
 Wireless phone 

O Players sit next to each other. The game starts with the
first player who whispers in the ear of the second player a
word, chosen at random.
O The second player must pass the second word on,
whispering in the ear of the player next to him.
O The word is whispered from one to another, until the last
player, who has to say out loud and clear what they
understood. There are no winners, but lots of fun.
 Flowers, boys, and girls 
O It takes at least 4 children to play it.
O Two children move away from the rest of the group and choose a
number from 1 to 10. After they return, the other players must guess
the number. The first to guess can choose a category from flowers,
names of boys or girls, movies, artist or singers.
O The two children who chose the number move away again, each
choosing a representative from that category. When back, the one
who guessed the number will choose one of the options and will pair
with the child that chose that option. Thus, the game has a new pair.
O The topics can be adapted; there are no winners.
 Leapșa
There are two variations of the game: Perched Leapșa and Circle
Leapșa.

1.In Perched Leapșa, the child who is called ‘Leapșa’ is trying to catch
the others by running after them. If a player is at risk of being tagged,
they can perch on top of something, like a stone, or a chair, and is safe
as long as they are not touching the floor.

2.Circle Leapșa confines the players to a circle. One child is again trying
to catch the others. If they crouch down before they are touched, they
are safe.
The game goes on as long as the kids want.