folkgame friday

what do intimidating army trucks, two small children in a giant bubble, and mr. chung's whirligigs have in common? gaoshu elementary school & its folkgame friday!! gaoshu elementary school is also known as "the children's folkgame school." i don't know who uses that name, what exactly it entails, or whether other schools in taiwan bear such enchanting and honorable titles, but i do know that it sets us apart as a school that knows how to PLAY. our school is always fun, as you'd expect a children's folkgame school to be: there are oversized, 3-dimensional wooden block puzzles (Chinese wood knots) in 10+ levels of difficulty, complex mazes painted on the asphalt, metal ring challenges, and a full-time folkgame teacher. there's even a room meticulously painted with glow-in-the-dark constellations... maybe not a folkgame, but definitely playful.

the folkgame friday concept: a full morning devoted to folkgames and children. the motivation: as far as i could gather, to boost morale among children affected by typhoon morakot. on this particular day, busloads of children from local schools arrived bright and early, and were treated to a morning of games, endless twisted balloon shapes, and a fantastic magic show. folkgames: a truly inclusive category of fun.












rows and rows of tables were set up with a fascinating range of games: tangrams, handheld boards with holes and rolling balls, mazes to trace via mirror reflection, fishing poles with multiple pendulums to coordinate, NT's to balance on NT's (NT = Taiwan New Dollar), and more. kids were lined up at every table waiting to play games, earn stamps, and redeem those stamps at the frenzied balloon table.












photos: shu-shu's dancing grasshoppers at gaoshu elementary; the Father of the Nation enjoys a magic show; mr. chung's folkgame art; folkgame friday visitors (top honors for head covering on the left, aboriginal kids on the right dominate in the uniform category); folkgames (tangrams, NT balancing, and star line); the scene at the balloon table; eileen laoshi with xiao pengyou & octopus; balloon kids & papercuts