Of geese, wolves, games and culture

In the article "Game Traditions: Lessons for Life," Jann Lacoss describes the correlation between the games Russian children play, and the society and culture within which those games are played. Exploring these correrlations is highly instructive, for anthropologist and educator, game player and designer. Lacoss describes a game I learned of as "What's the Time Mr. Wolf."

"As an example of a game for smaller children, I have chosen "Gusi-gusi" (Geese-geese). This type of game is typically played by children aged 5-8. Several similar games exist, all with similar goals. These include tagging players and incorporating them into a different group. The players start by choosing the leaders, a "mama goose" and a "grey wolf." Once the vedushchie (leaders) are chosen, the game begins. To start the game, the mama goose stands at one end of the playing field. The goslings (all of the children besides the mama and the wolf) stand at the other end. The wolf remains in the middle of the field. The mama and her goslings engage in a poetic interchange:

"Mama: Goosey, goosey!
Goslings: Honk-honk-honk!
Mama: Do you want to eat?
Goslings: Yes-yes-yes!
Mama: Well, fly on over!
Goslings: We can't!
Mama: Why not?
Goslings: The gray wolf behind the hill won't let us come home.

"At this point, the goslings run across the field. The wolf attempts to tag as many of them as possible. Each gosling that he tags becomes a wolf. The game continues, with multiple wolves catching an ever-diminishing corps of goslings.

"What does this game teach? Keeping in mind that its target audience (i.e., players) is children who are entering kindergarten or are old enough to do so, it teaches them to become independent from their mothers, which is apropos for this age. The goslings attempt to rejoin mother but often end up in the larger group of wolves; they end up with their peers rather than their family, as depicted by the "mama." The wolves work together toward one goal: increasing the group as much as possible. Although the goal is to avoid joining the group, the latter gains in importance and desirability as it grows. This may indicate that the group still holds a strong position in society. Other "wolf" games display similar characteristics. In past generations this game may have reinforced the notion of working together; it still may. In this variant, I have seen players create strategies for corralling the remaining geese or isolating the 'weak' ones in order to tag them. For the children who play this and similar games, the group still apparently holds a prominent place."

See also my article "Tag, Like Pachisi, is model of interaction, even evolution."