Turkish Games
Most games played during school or free-time activities among Turkish people usually emphasize mutual
enjoyment and the display of physical agility and mental skills, but de-emphasize competition and the
win-or-lose factor. These games reaffirm the strong communal spirit that pervades Turkish society.
Many games end as most Turkish fellowship ends… amicably and with the sharing of a meal.
Tag, You’re Ebe!
In Turkey, the player who is “It” is called “Ebe” (pronounced eh-beh). The process of actually choosing one player
as Ebe often constitutes a game itself in the Republic of Turkey. In fact, in some instances, the process is ritualized
to the point where the process of choosing Ebe actually takes more time than playing the game! For these games,
for the sake of time, numbers can be chosen or the teacher can determine who is Ebe.
Flew, Flew, the Bird Flew
Equipment Needed: A large tray or flat surface.
Arrangement of Players: Players sit in a large circle around the table or large
tray, close enough so that they can rest both index fingers on the table or tray.
Song to Accompany Play:
“Flew, flew, the bird flew.
Flew, flew, the bee flew.
Flew, flew, the butterfly flew.
Flew, flew, the airplane flew.
Flew, flew, the truck flew.
Ah, ah! Did the truck fly?
Ahmet, you’re out!”
How to Play:
This singing game is similar to “Simon Says” played here in the U.S.A. Spend a little time practicing the
song with the entire class, until all students become familiar with the words and the tune you choose. One player is
chosen as the leader, Ebe. The leader chants the song, and each time he or she sings a line, they raise their index
fingers high into the air, depending on whether or not the creature or object named in that line can actually fly.
The rest of the players listen intently and watch Ebe as the lines are sung, but they are expected to raise
their fingers from the surface only if the creature or object named can indeed fly. Any player who raises his or her
index fingers when a non-flying item is named (like a bed, box, dog, box, table, etc.) is out of the game. Likewise,
any player who fails to raise their fingers when a flying object is named is out of the game. The teacher is the referee.
To make it more interesting, allow Ebe to raise their fingers on a non-flying object, or leave their fingers
against the tray or table when singing a flying object, just to try to confuse the other players. Then, all of the players
must only rely on the lines of the song to determine if they raise their fingers or not… instead of the movement of
Ebe’s fingers! The last player in the game gets to be Ebe next.
One Touch
Equipment Needed: A simple mask or blindfold
Arrangement of Players: Divide the class or group into two teams, and each team
chooses one player to be Ebe. Each team forms a line facing the other team.
Song to Accompany Play:
“The pot is boiling by the tree.
When one moved from their group.
The blind one couldn’t tell which one it was.”
How to Play:
Each Ebe gives a different fruit, flower or animal name to his or her team members (for example –
Apple, Orange, Banana, Cherry, etc.) without revealing the owners of those names to the other team.
One team begins, and their Ebe (First Ebe) calls forth the Ebe from the opposing team (Second Ebe) chanting
“Singir, mingir, my noisemaker, you are welcome. Come to the riverbank!” The second Ebe approaches the first
team’s line and chants “Sangur, sungur, making noise, here I come!” Then the second Ebe goes behind his
opponent’s line and stops behind one of the players, blindfolds the player’s eyes, then calls to his own team,
“Pineapple (or some other name he or she has assigned), come here!”
The player who has been called forward by their Ebe comes to the blindfolded opponent, touches the
player lightly on the forehead or chin, then returns quietly to his or her place in line.
Ebe uncovers the blindfolded player’s eyes, and the player approaches the other line seeking to identify the
one who did the touching. As the player comes forward, all of the players sing or chant the three-line stanza as long
as the player is trying to guess the identity of the toucher (only four guesses are allowed).
If the player chooses the correct “toucher”, the singing stops and the seeker takes the toucher back to join
his or her own team (and that Ebe assigns the new team member a secret name like the other players). If, after four
attempts, the seeker fails to identify the toucher, they return to their team alone. Either way, the turn them passes to
the other Ebe, and the procedure is repeated.
End of Play: Determined when one team through its “captures” greatly outnumbers the other team. The winning
team then “punishes” the losing team by requiring them to perform some kind of pre-determined stunt or penalty:
singing a song, imitating the sound of a specified animal, cleaning the blackboard, etc.
Ring Game
Equipment Needed: A long string with a small ring threaded onto it and the ends tied together to form a huge
string circle.
Arrangement of Players: Entire class or group sit in a huge circle (except for Ebe who stands inside the circle).
Make sure the string circle is big enough so that it can stretch around the inside of the whole circle, with each player
holding it with both hands.
Song to Accompany Play:
“From hand to hand pass the ring.
Let it go ‘round along the string.
Don’t let it stop! Don’t let it stop!
Don’t let Ebe find it.”
How to Play:
For this game, no score is kept. The emphasis of this game is not on competition but on display of perception,
alertness and shared fun.
To pass the ring around the circle, along the string, without revealing its location to Ebe, the players form
fists and bring their fists close to those of their neighbors as the ring is secretly passed, and without stopping, from
one player to the next. The chanting continues through the game until Ebe finally detects the ring’s location.
Since the object of the players is to keep Ebe from guessing where the ring is, players should sometimes
counterfeit the passing of the ring to distract Ebe’s attention from the ring’s actual position. When Ebe catches a
passer, that player then becomes Ebe, and the first Ebe becomes a part of the circle of players.
Beauty & Ugliness
Arrangement of Players: All players stand in a large circle, with Ebe standing in the center of the
circle.
Song to Accompany Play:
English – “The bell rang. The duck dived into the water.”
Turkish – “Zil caldi. Ordek suya daldý.”
How to Play: Before each round, the players huddle and decide whether the pose to be assumed by the players
will be a beautiful one or an ugly one. Then the players in the circle join hands and, moving clockwise in the circle,
sing the two-line song (try it in Turkish!). On “water” or “daldý”, they drop their hands and, without speaking or
laughing or making any other sound, assume their individual versions of the pose previously decided on. That pose
is held in silence until Ebe chooses one player as the most beautifully (or ugly) posed. The person chosen becomes
the new Ebe, and the procedure is repeated.
The variety of poses assumed is vast, involving both comic exaggeration and remarkable dexterity, and delights the
players as well as the onlookers.
Where’s the Handkerchief?
Equipment Needed: A large handkerchief with a knot tied in one corner.
Arrangement of Players: All players except Ebe sit on the floor in a large circle. Ebe stands outside the circle
holding the handkerchief.
Song to Accompany Play:
“Take the handkerchief in your hand.
Make two rounds in a ring.
Where is the handkerchief put?
Behind whose back is it now?
If she doesn’t know it, hol dher by the leg;
Hold her arm up in the air.”
How to Play:
All of the seated players join in the chant as Ebe walks twice around the outside of the circle. By the end
of the second round, Ebe should secretly place the handkerchief quietly behind the back of one player.
If or when a player detects the handkerchief behind them, they should jump up with the handkerchief and
run after Ebe, trying to catch him and tag him with the handkerchief. Ebe tries to seat himself in the spot vacated by
the chosen player before being tagged. If Ebe succeeds, the chosen player becomes the new Ebe. If Ebe is tagged,
he or she remains Ebe for another round. (Other players who see where Ebe places the handkerchief should not
reveal the secret. If they do hint at the location in any way, they immediately must become Ebe).
