Monday, 30 January 2012

Traditional Arabic Games...

Hi Grandies I thought you might like to learn a little bit about one of the traditional games that is played here in the UAE. Jasmine & Tamika you'll be able to understand this easier than the younger ones so why don't you try playing this game......for the little ones, Lucian, Angus, Isaac and Talia maybe mummy and Daddy can show you what to do.


In the past there were no Nintendo or Sega games, there were no jet skis or dune buggies in the UAE.  The people were very poor and couldn’t afford to buy toys for their children.   There were only palm trees, seashells and pebbles. 

However, children in the past were very creative in inventing their own games and making their own toys from the materials they found.  Usually girls and boys played separately and the boy’s games tended to be more active.  At sunset, or Al Maghreb as it is called in Arabic, the games would all end and the children would return to their homes.

The "Al Saqlah" Game  = Marbles
This game is played by girls only. The number of players are not more than four girls. They make a shallow hole in the ground and put a number of shells or pebbles in the hole. One of them throws the key stone upwards, extracts as many stones as she can from the hole and then catches the key stone before it hits the ground. She repeats this action for as long as she can catch the key stone.  When she fails to catch the key stone, she must return the last lot of stones to the hole and the turn moves to the next player. This continues until there are no more stones in the hole. The winner is the player who collects the highest number of stones.



Wednesday, 25 January 2012

Thankyou


Thankyou Grandies for my Happy Birthday wishes. 

Nan isn't counting how old she is anymore because when you get to my age you don't want to know but I loved your singing Jasmine, Tamika and Angus that was really special.

Thank you everyone 
Nan loves you !!!

Wednesday, 18 January 2012

Happy 3rd Birthday ANGUS !!!




Nan & Pop are thinking of you today and would like to send you this little video to watch.
We hope you like it.  Have a great day.

Thursday, 12 January 2012

Great,great grandparents ........

This is a picture of Pop's Grandparents. 


They lived in Essex, England and Pop's grandfather was very, very tall.  He was 6' 8", taller than U/Sean (Daddy).  


Maybe Mummy or Daddy could show you on the wall how tall that is.  Pop's grandmother was very short at about 5' tall.


Do you think Pop looks like his grandfather or his grandmother?

Sunday, 8 January 2012

Some special gifts ......

Nan has just been given some very special gifts and I thought that I'd share them with you all.

A friend of mine went to a country that is very small and they don't have many tourists there.  It's called Khazakhstan. You could get Mum or Dad to show you where Khazakhstan is.

The presents are  Christmas decorations so I'll put them on our tree next Christmas and remember this special country and my friend.

I hope you like them as much as I do.