by Ravi Batra
(India)
Let me introduce you to a fun activity that I used to engage in pre-mobile, pre-computers, pre-internet days when our options for indoor fun were severely limited.
One of the most entertaining vocabulary games that I remember playing as a child was a queer game called “Name, Place, Animal, Thing”. The game consisted of all the players using a piece of paper, creating four columns for names, places, animals and things and filling these four columns with their pencils or pens.
The rules of this game are simple. One letter is chosen every round for which all the participants are required to jot down any name, geographical location, animal and item beginning with that letter.
The player who is first to complete the round would get the highest points (if there are four players, then he would get 4 points, while the player who finishes the round last will get only 1 point) and will also be allowed to choose the letter for the next round.
Any player not able to complete the round within the agreed time frame (usually 5 minutes) would be eliminated.
The game would continue till all but one player was eliminated or till the participants got bored and decided to stop playing it. In the latter case, the player with maximum points would be considered winner.
While the game is usually played by 5-10 years old, it can also be enjoyed by adults though obviously those who have good vocabulary and general knowledge wouldn’t feel challenged by such a simple and easy game.
Of course, as kids we found it fun, entertaining and educational and never got tired of playing it.