Tag Archives: #games

Children’s Hand Game: Concentrate

The game requires two players. One hand is facing down, one hand is facing up, your hands are mirrored with each other, and then you clap three times on your own. To start, you do those actions while singing “Concentrate, 48, no repeats, or hesitates, ill go first, you’ll go second, let’s concentrate on _
The informant stated that the category to concentrate on is chosen before the start of the game. For example, the category could be Disney characters, fast food restaurants, books, movies, or anything else. Then the informant said the point of the game was to continue to list out things in that category while alternating back and forth, doing the same hand-clapping motions every time a response is given. The game ends when one of the individuals runs out of responses, someone hesitates, or something is repeated.

The informant has an older sister who is five years older than her. She states that growing up, her sister knew so many games such as hand clapping games meant to pass the time. Whether it was in car rides, in line at Disney World, and before Iphones and Ipads, it became an integral thing for them. She stated that when they would play, they would think “Oh you’re bored, oh you don’t have anything to do, you just want to be silly for a second” and it would alleviate their boredom. Additionally, she added that at other times the adults would be busy and thus she and her sister would need to occupy themselves so they would be able to be silly and have fun. She added that she was a girl scout and learned many other hand games through this as well. Lastly, she mentioned that she still plays now for nostalgia and that she has taught it to some of her friends now as a way to disconnect from being on their phones all the time.

 The hand-clapping game resembles many other games in the sense that its pace is fast and creates a competitive environment between its players. The urgency to play whenever one was bored shows how children are able to be creative and innovative. Considering the link between being a girl scout and having the knowledge of all these games shows that there is a purpose to learning these games and that we view them as having value and not just something silly. They provide children with something they can do that stimulates their minds and can also now help to detach themselves from using technology for entertainment so much.

License Plate Game

Ok so the game is the license plate game, and everyone has a different way of playing it, but how me and my friends back home play it, is if we’re on a long road trip or any car ride we… if we see a license plate for out of state, I’ll say the license plate like “Alabama” and punch the person closest to me, but I think that might just be like a west coast thing.

The participant is from San Diego, and plays this game with their friends there.

I personally don’t play the license plate game this way, I only push people in the car if I see a Volkswagen Beetle, then I say “punch buggy yellow” and punch someone (if the car is yellow), and I am from Ohio so maybe this is just a west coast thing or a regional thing.