The Making of the State - Five Historical Decisions
Ben Gurion Centenary 1886-1986

II. Quickie Games

A. MAKE A WORD AND MORE

Ages: 8-10

How many words can you make up from the letters in Ben Gurion?

Nothing less than three letters - and use a dictionary.

B. HISTORICAL BALL GAME

Ages: 12-16

Materials: Ball. Biographical list from kit. Cleared floor space.

Leader throws the ball and calls out a year during Ben Gurion's lifetime. Catcher has to reply with the important event that took place in Israel then - can be something in B.G.'s own life or just an event in Israel - returns ball to leader in the centre and the game continues. If the catcher does not know the answer, he throws to someone else in the group who answers and throws the ball back to the centre.

C. TEAM SHIRIAH

Ages: 12-18

Materials: Use the shiron "Bekol Ram" in this package

Make two teams: Galil and Negev. Negev starts singing a song that starts with a word beginning with Bet. When the leader calls "stop" the Galil team has to start a song beginning with the letter Nun, and so on until Ben Gurion's name has been spelt in Hebrew. No song may be sung more than once.

D. NAME THAT LEADER

Ages: 12-16. For group meeting or activity

Suitability: variation suitable for ice-breaker.

Preparation: Information sheets in correct quantity

Time: 10-15 minutes

Aim: This can be a review game without information sheets, or a game to introduce the whole issue of Zionist leaders and their achievements.

Procedure

Ask for two volunteers, who then leave the room. One is called in and told his partner represents a famous modern Zionist and is told that person's name (information card if necessary) and leaves the room again. The second person is called in and given the name of his companion's personality (with information card). The game is for them both to discuss their partners, talk to each other, until they guess whom they themselves represent. Play a second round.

Variation

Divide the whole group into teams: Galil/Negev. Distribute name cards (different in each group) to all players - you can give more than one person in each team the same card (with or without biographical details). Each player pairs off with someone from the opposite team and the game proceeds in the same way until everyone has guessed whom he or she is supposed to be. Choose only very famous names for this variation or it will take too long...

E. THE MAN AND THE PLACE

Ages: 10-14. Time: up to ten minutes

Suitable for camp/meeting or teams activity

Aims: Combines knowledge about Ben Gurion with facts about modern Israel and settlements.

Preparation

Read Ben Gurion's biography in this series and refer to card game for information about places like Petah Tikva, Tel Aviv and other places where he lived. You can use the Centenary and Jubilee site for further information. Prepare what you will say about each place.

Materials

A map of Israel and red tape to mark places or routes (also little flags).

Procedure

Split group into two or three teams. The madrich plays Ben Gurion talking about different episodes in his life but not in historical order. When the group leader arrives at the name of a town or settlement in the story, the name is left out but additional information is given until the group guesses the name (or until the first team guesses) and points can be awarded. The story continues in the same way.

F. YES OR NO?

Ages: 14-17, group meeting or panel game. Limit to 10 minutes.

Description

This is a review type game on the basis of yes/no answers and is suitable for a regular group meeting. Your group needs to be familiar with some of the personalities of modern Israel.

Procedure

For the group game one player goes out of the room while the name of a famous person in modern Israeli history is chosen. The player then reenters and must guess the name chosen through answers to the questions he asks (question round in a circle) with the only possible replies being "yes", "no", or "I don't know". Limit the player to 15 or 20 questions.

As a panel game, the moderator gives team B the name team A is supposed to guess and then vice versa.

Variation

Play this using the name of a settlement in Israel or an important event in which Ben Gurion played a vital part. For the famous settlement version, you will need to supply some more background information and a map to the group or to both teams.