For most children, one of the most important days of the year is their birthday. Already weeks before the big day, the excitement rises. On wish lists, the kids can write their wishes for a birthday gift, for example, special clothes, new toys, books, and video games. When their birthday is finally here, most kids celebrate it with their family and friends. Next to the birthday lunch or dinner and, of course, the birthday cake, the party activities have a big impact on the overall mood of the celebration. There are all over the world different party games for children on their birthdays. Different traditions get passed on, and already generations of children have played them. A very common activity is a treasure hunt, where all children are looking for a hidden treasure, whose location they have to find out by solving various riddles. However, a typical game for children in Germany is called “Topfschlagen.” It is a tried-and-tested game that is easy to understand for every age group.
The history:
Topfschlagen means literally “pot hitting” or “pot banging” and has its origins in the 18th century. It was known as the “cockfighting game” and was even played by society at court. As the name indicates, the game worked like this: A cock got covered with a pot, and the player was blindfolded. When the player could smash the pot while being blindfolded, he won the cock. An equivalent to Topfschlagen is the game of hitting a “Piñata”.
What you need:
A wooden spoon
A big cooking pot
A scarf
Presents or sweets for the birthday child
How to play:
Here is how you play “Topfschlagen.” The birthday child and its party guests sit down on the floor in a circle. Then, the birthday child gets blindfolded with a scarf without any holes to peek through. Then, the rest of the players decide which gift is supposed to be opened first by the birthday child. This happens in silence, so the blindfolded person is not able to understand which presesnt or from whom it is. After that, the present gets placed under the cooking pot, which is upside down on the ground. The aim for the birthday child is to find the pot that covers the present by slamming the spoon on the ground. It gets positioned randomly in the circle that gets formed by the players. Now the game really starts. The birthday child receives the wooden spoon from the other players. Afterwards, he or she repeatedly bangs the spoon on the ground in different directions in order to find the pot with the spoon. The other players give hints by commenting on the direction of the bangs with “warmer” and “colder.” “Warmer” indicates to the player that it is getting closer to the pot, and “colder” means that it moves away from it. The birthday child knows it won the game when it hears the sound of wood slamming on metal. This means it is allowed to take off the blindfold and unpack its present. This gets repeated as long as all presents are found in this way. This game is a fun and creative way to give the birthday child a present. While playing, please make sure you are careful when beating around you with the spoon since you cannot aim and you could hurt someone.
Sources:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topfschlagen