Teaching approaches - Play
© Scottish Media Group /SCRAN
While Scots may not have been encouraged in the classroom for most of the twentieth century, uniquely Scots words and phrases persisted in the playground, frequently in children's games and rhymes.
Writers such as William Soutar and J K Annand recognised the importance of children's games and 'bairn rhymes' in the survival of Scots.
Several collections of Scottish children's games have been published: the most recent Classic Children's Game from Scotland (Scottish Children's Press, 2nd ed. 2001) gives a delightful glimpse into the exuberant and occasionally irreverent world of the playground.
Traditional games could be incorporated into a 'people in the past' topic, to help illustrate what it was like to grow up in Victorian or wartime Scotland. They can also be fun.
Ideas
- What games do you play in your school playground? Do they involve words?
- Make a list of all the games you know, together with any word or rhymes you use.
- How would you explain your games to someone who does not know how to play them?
The language of the playground, particularly when used by children in structured games, can be a good way into exploring the topics of register in language, slang, dialect and specialised vocabularies. It could also be an approachable way to encourage pupils to experiment with writing in forms of language other than standard English.
A class project could be to record for posterity in the form of a booklet some of the common playground games that they know and play.
Did you know?
© Scottish Media Group / SCRAN
- cheeny
- chuck
- clayey
- commie
- commonnie
- dabber
- dod
- doe
- doldie
- dollicker
- glessie
- jaurie
- ruddy