Toys and games have been around as long as people have. Archaeologists are no longer surprised when they find paintings of ancient Egyptians bowling or the remains of 3 000 year old Norwegian ice skates. They’ve come to expect surprises.

HOW GOLF BEGAN (OR SO THEY SAY)

Read the story below and fill in the missing words as you go along.

Golf is one of the most popular games in the ________. It is played in almost

__________ countries. It is said to have _______________ in Scotland and that

___________ golfer was a shepherd. He was watching his _______________

in a field near St Andrews. After a while he became bored. To pass the _______

he struck at pebbles with his shepherd’s__________. He held the staff at the

bottom and hit the stones with the ___________ . After a little practice, he

could hit the stones quite a ___________ way. One stone flew high in the air and

____________in a rabbit hole. The man tried to repeat this shot, but

____________it very difficult.

His friend, who had been , challenged him.

So started the first golf ever as each player tried

to sink his pebble down the hole.

Now how about YOU inventing a new BALL GAME! Work as a group and think of some fun way you could play with a ball (small/big/rubber/knitted/round or not) and some other equipment. Keep it simple and fun. Remember to write a short explanation of how the game works and how many players there are, the rules, scoring, etc. Give your game a name too. ORIGINALITY is what you need to strive for.

Find out from your parents and grandparents about simple games they played as children. Take a deeper look into history and find out what children did to entertain themselves without TV and PLAYSTATION!! Report back to class and maybe you could demonstrate the game(s) or get Gran or Granddad to come and demonstrate.

PLAYING WITH PAPER

Japanese children enjoy folding paper to make attractive shapes and objects. The art of paper-folding is called origami. Children in Japan can learn how to make over a hundred figures including a frog, a mouse, and a rabbit.

I am quite sure that each of you knows how to make an origami paper game. You have probably even been reprimanded at school for not putting the game away until playtime!

Read the instructions carefully and try to make a magic beak and a paper cup of your own. Once you have finished, make up a game to play with your magic beak.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Now fold some ‘magic’ of your own. Try a water lily (the magic beak is a beginning) or paper hat. Or be brave and try some REAL origami.

NOW FOR SOME POETRY! Read each poem and then answer the questions that follow.

TELEPHONES

Grownups

Never stop complaining about the telephone.

‘It’s been ringing all day’

they say,

but never leave it alone.

They moan all the time

‘I can’t get any work done’

‘Wouldn’t it be fun

without one?’ So why

don’t they try?

‘I’ll just call Mother’

‘Better give George a ring’

Can’t they call another

day? No wonder they’re too busy

to do anything.

The new one

sits in the hall

chirrups away

like an electric mouse,

busy all day,

ruling the house.

Grownups moan

about the telephone

upstairs, downstairs,

out of beds and armchairs,

never see a programme through:

what can they do?

‘Not that phone again’ they shout.

Why don’t they have it taken out?

QUESTIONS

Write a letter to a magazine complaining about cell phones being a nuisance in society. Give yourself a witty pseudonym.

DOMESTIC HELP

The other day,

one of our domestic robots went mad,

kissed my dad,

poured marmalade over the video wall,

shampooed the cat,

sugared my mother’s hair,

and sat on my sister’s knee

(she fell through the chair).

Dad’s frantic fiddling with the control-panel

only made matters worse.

It vacuum-cleaned the ceiling,

put the coffee-table into the garbage disposal unit,

uncorked a bottle of wine

and poured it gently over the carpet,

then carefully unscrewed its head

and deposited it in Mum’s lap.

Mother says

that’s the way it is these days:

you can’t get the robots you used to.

QUESTIONS

TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT THE MIND MAP. WE HAVE DISCUSSED, WRITTEN ABOUT, READ ABOUT THINGS TO EAT AND THINGS TO WEAR AND GAMES PEOPLE PLAY. NOW IT IS UP TO YOU. FIND OUT ABOUT THE WHEEL, CARS AND THAT MOST FAMOUS OF DOLLS – BARBIE!

1. It rings often and one can’t ignore it.

2. It imitates the sound the telephone makes.

3. Because they can’t do without it.

2. vacuum cleaning

uncorking wine

putting garbage in the garbage disposal unit

1. thermometer

2. telescope

3. projector

4. computer

5. magnet

6. satellite

7. stethoscope

8. radio

9. dynamo

10. cable

11. microscope

12. speedometer

13. telephone

14. meter