Jianzi - Featherball or Chinese Hacky Sack

On our recent trip to Asia we found these 'shuttlecocks' in Vietnam, where they are used to play a version of Hacky Sack. We saw people using them playing in the streets, but also discovered that there is an official game played with them. The game is called "da cau" and means "kick shuttlecock". The game is similar to Badminton, played on a rectangular court divided by a net, and is in fact the national sport of Vietnam!

The game is believed to have originated in Vietnam in the 5th century BC, when it was used as a military training exercise. 

(Source - Wikipedia)

We saw many people playing this game in the streets in Hanoi - like this:

We have been trying to play it with the featherball we bought in Vietnam, but we aren't quite this skilled yet.
It's a great way to practice and improve hand-eye and foot-eye co-ordination. It's good for your eye-muscles, agility, body control and balance.  Practising this is a great fun way to improve all sorts of physical skills that can be transferred to other sports.  Our girls both play hockey - so any practice watching and reacting to a ball of any kind should help them in that. Euan and I both do a lot of trail running where agility is really important as you run over plenty of roots and rocks, so it should prove beneficial to us too.
Looks like we've found a new family game to play in the garden!
Have you ever played any kind of 'hacky sack'? or even the Vietnamese version?

Beach volleyball

Here in Cairns we have a beautiful Esplanade where the council provides several free fitness activities during the week.  I've started taking our girls along once a week to the free Beach Volleyball session on a Monday evening.  So for one hour, we get free coaching and games on the courts there.

It is generally only adults go to this, but when we turned up with the kids (a friend came with her two kids) we were warmly welcomed.

Although the kids, because they are physically much smaller than the adults, can't play full games with them, we can all join in the drills and practices, and the coach is great in taking time with the kids and helping them with easier moves and games at the side!

Tonight we went down and our two girls were the only kids there, so when we moved on from drills and practices to games, I stayed on the sidelines with them and we practised our passing.  We've been going for a couple of months now - and just that one hour a week is starting to pay off with their ball skills beginning to show a marked improvement.

Now just practising passing the volleyball is something we can do in our own garden at home, but having a set time to go somewhere to practise with others, get a little coaching, meet some other people - and all for free is a great opportunity.

If we didn't go to this organised free session, it is doubtful we could be motivated enough to practice and be this active at home where it is all too easy to stop when you get a little tired or never start in the first place when you have a comfortable sofa to sit on, and a book to read or tv to watch.  The girls also enjoy it as something that I do with them rather than just watch as with their after school sports.

Do you take advantage of any free activities your council offers?  Are kids welcomed there with the adults? Or do your stick to just taking your kids along to organised activities that are specifically for kids?

Play ball games

OK, put down the remote, slowly....., step away from the television.

There is definitely too much screen time happening around the world these days.

I remember the days.....

In all seriousness, it is true.  Between television and computers the kids and 'youth of today' are definitely turning into blobs and vegetables too soon!  We need to get up off our backsides and get into the garden, park, forest or just plain simple outdoors more!

Here in Cairns, the wet season is too good an excuse to stay indoors, but in that lovely twilight or later afternoon time, if it isn't raining, that is the perfect time as the day cools down to be outside.

We recently grabbed the scooter, the cricket bat and a tennis ball and had an impromptu game of backyard cricket or rounders/softball!. The girls loved it- it also really made me realise how much more we need to play ball games as their catching skills at the age of 5 and 7 are NOT up to scratch.  Mental note..... play catch more!

We set up the scooter as stumps or home base and one person batted.  The other two took turns bowling or pitching and fielding as appropriate.  We even hit a few home runs (over the fence and into the road outside).  This lead to some traffic and road awareness discussions too; bonus!

It was great to see the girls developing throwing, catching and hand eye hitting the ball skills.

We had great fun and will do this again.  It was definitely better than sitting on our bums wasting away.

Rant, rant, rave rave- but yes, the kids of today need more exercise.  Get them away from the screens!!!

Do you agree, or am I playing devil's advocate too much?

What do you play with your kids in the garden?

Euan

Egg and Spoon Race

Ready, Steady......  Go!!!

Stumble.....drop.....shout, restart all over again!

I always remember enjoying the egg and spoon race, or egg and golf ball race as it always was.

How can such a simple activity be marred by brands and 

one-upmanship with the brand of golf ball you had?  Other similar early sports day events were the fancy dress race, obstacle race, sack race and three legged race.  As games for older kids, tug or war, catch with raw eggs and partners get further and further apart are worth a go too.

An egg and spoon race is simple.  You need a start and finish line, a group of kids, (hard boiled) eggs or golf balls and long handled spoons.  After the race commences the children should run with the spoon and balanced egg held out in front of them.  If the egg drops, you must stop and restart from that point.  No fingers holding the egg on the spoon!!  The first person to cross the finish line with the egg on the spoon is the winner!  The prize is either to eat the hard boiled egg or could be a treat of some sort.

We have recently played with ping pong balls, stones, real eggs and even my trusty old rubber egg to practice the old egg and spoon race.

The girls loved it.  It really is a great way  to run around outside with a purpose.  It also takes some of the competitiveness out of the 'race' as being older or bigger doesn't make such a difference.

The egg and spoon race is good for hand eye coordination as well as balance and concentration and is lots of fun!

You can even buy coloured plastic versions of the game.

I think I'll stick to the old fashioned home made version though.

Are there any other simple outdoor 'races' that you enjoyed as a kid?  Which ones am I missing?

Euan