Consider: Rice planting game*

“Nine children were standing together near the temple in the rain, and ten-year-old Kaley proposed that they play the rice planting game. All the children started to work with great enthusiasm, pulling up grass, or “rice seedlings”. Older children showed the younger ones how to pull them up without breaking the roots. There was a lot of friendly competition as they compared seedlings and made terraces in the ground, enjoying the water and the mud. After a while, Kaley delegated different jobs to different people. He did the ploughing with a toy plough he had made for himself, some planted seedlings, and others made canals for irrigation, all of them imitating what they had seen adults do and learning from one another. Possession of the plough was the visible symbol of Kaley’s leadership, helped by his capacity to organize others. When they finished, they were all happy and tired, satisfied with their good work and their time together” (Arnold et al., 2000, p. 83).

*Excerpt, used with permission, from:

Arnold, C., Bartlett, S., Hill, J., Khatiwada, C., & Sapkota, P. (2000), p. 83. Bringing up children in a changing world: Who’s right? Whose rights: Conversations with families in Nepal. Save the Children/UNICEF. https://www.childwatch.uio.no/publications/books/SC_UNICEF_Bringing_up_children%20in%20a%20changing%20world.pdf