A couple of weeks ago, I attended an Indonesian Immersion Day to improve my language speaking skills. I learned a few great games in the process, so thought I would share. These would make fantastic brain breaks. I especially love ‘Komodo’ for its unique Indonesian flavour! Thanks so much to Ibu Kasenya Grant, who taught us how to play these games.

Saya Sakit (I’m Sick)       Give out plastic counters to all students (any colours, but only 3 of them are yellow – or whatever colour you choose). Instruct them not to show each other what colour they have. Only 3 students will have yellow counters. These are the students that are sakit (sick). Students walk around the room, asking each other “Apa Kabar?” (How are you?) They may give any answer eg I’m tired, I’m angry, I’m very well etc – in the L2, but ONLY those with yellow can answer “Saya sakit”. When a student asks and gets the response ‘Saya sakit‘ from one of the three, the asker has to fall down dead. The original 3 sick people cannot die. Wait until about half the class are dead, and line up the living and the three sick players together. See if the ‘dead’ students can guess who the sick three students are. Or play until only the original three remain standing!

Komodo   This one is sooo cool! A variation on the theme of ‘Saya Sakit’, but this time the person affected by the komodo’s bacteria has to count to 10 slowly in their head before they ‘mati‘ (die). This makes it much more difficult to identify the komodos! You can also change the questions to suit the topic you are teaching, with one chosen response as the ‘killer’ response!

Marco Polo      Marco Polo is ‘it’. (Or choose a more culturally appropriate name for your language) The students stand in a large circle, close together or holding hands. Choose three students to be in the middle, and one more to be ‘it’. Blindfold Marco Polo (MP). Spin MP around 3 times, with the class counting to help. Then MP has to say ‘Di mana? Di mana? Di mana?’ (Where are you?) and the other three have to respond ‘Sini, sini, sini!’ (Here!) The three students may not move their feet, but they can crouch down and lean over when MP approaches. With older students, you may let them move around slowly. When MP tags someone, the game starts again with four new players.