Monday, June 21, 2010

Proverb game

One of the seemingly endless flood of ideas that are only held in check by bags of mental sand is our proverb game. Years ago when we lived in New York, my good friend Diana Metreaud and I created a world proverb game. We called it "World Quest" and in those pre internet days we created a form letter asking for submissions from countries that had U.N. Missions in New York. We asked for some favorite proverbs and much to our shock we received many, many proverbs. We augmented what we received from books of proverbs. Our purpose was to create a game that showed that all the peoples of the world had wisdom--not just Americans. And that wisdom transcended imaginary lines on a map. We thought the schools would love such an idea. ANother friend even created some wonderful illustrations. Here is an example:

HUNGARY

What is the correct word or phrase that completes this proverb:

"What is learned in the cradle lasts till the --------------------"

A. next diaper change
B. bus leaves for Cleveland
C. grave
D. time when you have your own children

I had such a good time playing this with children and teenagers. In a class I would have the kids form teams. They received one point for the correct answer. Another point for the best explanation of the proverb. I would only except answers that were the product of the group consultation. So they were learning the value and process of consultation while thinking they were just having fun. Another wrinkle was having one from each group try to find the country first on a world map for another point The kids would never tire of the game and we had so much fun. I really tried to get this pub. using a professional to make submissions, but always got turned down. This is another retirement project that I will get pub.--even if we self publish.
I will post proverbs more if my friends wish.

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