Bring Sport into your partnership. It's a great way to have fun with your twin school. And you can use big events like the Commonwealth Games and the World Cup to give the international dimension a focus.

Below you can find games from South Africa, courtesy of Ms Patience Nganasi from Gomeni Junior Secondary School in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

Imbongolo

*This game is played by
4 – 6 people
*It is played with medium sized stones
*It needs a song to be played
*As you sing you stamp your stones on the ground with the same rhythm:

"Imbongolo, imbongolo" (repeated X 4)
_ _^ _ _^ _ _^ _ _^

(beats _ and stamping of the stone ^ )

*Then sing the next line with a faster rhythm and move the stone very quickly to the person next to you round the circle:

"Ibigqitha'phimbongolo" (repeated x4 as the stones are moved)
_ _ _ _ ' _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (double speed)

(translation:-The donkey was passing by!)

*If you are stuck with more than one stone in front of you, then you are out of the game because you are a donkey! Uyimbongolo!

*Another person takes your place and the game goes on.

Mapuko

*You need 12 stones for this game
*2 to 4 players can play it
*Draw a circle on the ground
*Place the stones inside the circle
*First using one hand only Player 1 picks up a stone and as s/he throws it in the air s/he moves a group of stones out of the circle before s/he has to catch the stone again in the same hand
*Next s/he must push all but one stone back in to the circle with the next throw
*Finally s/he picks up that one stone with the following throw
*This process is repeated until s/he has picked up all the stones one at a time
*If s/he misses the play is passed on to the next person round the circle
*Player 1 will carry on from where s/he got to on her next turn
*When all the stones have been picked up singly the next stage is to do the same thing picking up 2 stones – and so the game continues picking up more and more stones

Inkwetshelele

*This game needs two people to hold a skipping rope
*It is called Inkwetshelele because you have to push your buttocks forward and bend your upper body backwards (this is what the words mean)
*After that you go under the rope without touching it with your upper body
*Many people can play this game but if you have touched the rope you are out of the game
*The rope starts by being put higher up and as the game goes on it becomes lower and lower
*The game ends when there is no one passing through the rope without touching it

As you play you sing:

"Iyu nantsi' nkwetshelele Bafana
Iyu nantsi' nkwetshelele Bafana
Iyu nantsi' nkwetshelele Bafana
Iyo … nantsi' nkwetshelele Bafana…"