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1. Official Baghdad Mufti Camel Rally

The rally rules

This is a games evening for a group of approx. 80 kids. It was played at a summer camp in 2000 in the EC Bezirk Schwäbisch Hall. Provided by Matthias Zimmer (EC-Sulzdorf) in December.

Story:

The Muftis from a suburb of Baghdad (members of staff) have decided to have a big camel rally event together with the large families (the kids) - a major event. There is no greater honour for the families than to see THEIR camels succeed.

The opening:

The head Mufti of Baghdad opens the rally with his harem ladies (presenters). At the beginning each family must describe their own glorious occasion which led to the family’s current emblem. Each group receives an object (anything which is lying around from a drawing pin to a stopwatch) and they must think up an original story. (E.g. That is the ring of the great grandfather’s mufti’s camel Ben Bumm, who slayed a desert lion to protect his herd of goats.) The story should be relatively short – two minutes at the most.

The game plan:

30 game squares of which 3 are game fields, 5 event fields, 5 sweets and 17 empty fields.

The principle of the game:

A playing area (board game) is prepared on the ground with a tape. Each group (decided by the members of staff beforehand) has around 10 members. Each team receives a camel playing figure which can be stuck into the ground. Using dice or the such, the playing figures are moved around the board game. There are different playing square on which different events take place. Game and event squares only take place if they are landed on through a throw of the dice. The sweets squares are always awarded.

Event squares:

Different event squares are read out. Think up a lot!!

Sultan Supp-per-tool cheers for your camel. That gives you more power. Move on one square.
A desert mouse bites your camel in the hoof. Find a glass of water within two minutes to rinse the wound out, otherwise your camel must miss a go.
Your camel cannot rise to the challenge, has depression and must miss a round.
Your camel is stung by a desert bee and goes off like a rocket. Double your dice score and move forward.
Your camel sees a super "Fata-Morgan camel lady" That gives him a boost. Move forward 3 squares!
Your camel gets stuck in the sand and taken out of the race. Miss a go.
You arrive at an oasis and your camel cannot resist the temptation of a drink break. Move back 3 squares.
The baby of the family wants to ride with you. That will reduce your speed. Move back 2 squares.
The headwind is very strong. The front camel gets the full effect and must move back 2 spaces. The second camel moves back 1 space. The last camel saves his energy in the slipstream and moves forward 2 spaces. The second last camel moves forward once space.
The sun is beating down. The camel pulls himself along. Half your dice score and move this number of spaces back. (rounded off)
A sandstorm is threatening on the horizon. You encourage your camel to move on quickly before the storm arrives. Move 4 squares forward.

Sweet squares:

A piece of paper is laid on these squares, a sweet is played on the paper. If a camel lands on the sweet square, the whole group gets a sweet. (Motivates everyone to land on these squares...)

Game squares:

A game is played when this square is landed on. The team who wins may move 3 spaces along the board. The second team moves 2 spaces, the third 1 space etc. unless you have another idea.

Oasis sprint:

Each team makes a camel from two players who crawl along the ground with a sheet over them. A third player sits on the front part of the camel and is the camel rider. They must complete an obstacle course and reach an oasis (a beaker of water) as soon as possible.
Rubbish collection:

Every Mufti family obviously has lots of old things which they no longer need. Unfortunately the rubbish is not collected very often in the desert. There is no other choice than to try and palm the old stuff off onto other families. A piece of cardboard is threaded onto a piece of string and hung up. Each team must take turns to balance a match on the cardboard until it tips up. The group which knocks the matches off must take them all. The first team with no matches is the winner.
Blind Mufti:

Even an old, doddering blind Mufti still wants to write. However he is greatly dependent on his family’s help. The member of staff is blindfolded and a pen is put in his hand. 4-5 threads are tied onto his hand. The group is shown a word and they must pull the threads to move the leader’s hand and write the word. You do not need to judge this. Everyone moves a square forward.
Camel dropping fishing:

Even a camel can drop something. Not good if something valuable gets buried in the droppings! No Bedouin would touch it. We will have to find another possibility. A container is filled to the top with chocolate marshmallows (camel droppings) and a piece of jewellery is buried somewhere in them. One representative of each group must fish the jewel out of the container with their mouth. A representative is sent from the group who lands on the square to play against a representative of the group in last place. The winner moves 3 spaces forward.
Mufti packing:

At night it is bitter cold in the desert. We obviously have to take extra care of the old, frail Mufti. The smallest member of the group must now be wrapped in toilet paper so that he survives the coming night without frost bite. Each family is allocated 1 toilet paper roll. If the toilet paper rips, it must be tied together again. The winner is the first group to finish. .
Paperwork:

At a real rally, unbelievable amounts of paper rubbish is produced which are not needed afterwards. Adverts, reports, registration forms etc. The name of the game is: nothing like getting rid of it. A piece of grass is separated into two halves with a bench. A team is made up of 3 or 4 families. Approx. 100 scrunched up pieces of newspaper are lying on each side of the line. Once the start command is given, both teams must try to throw their newspaper balls into the other team's area. The team with the most newspaper balls in their area at the end of the end has lost. Each family in the winning team is allowed to move two spaces forward.
Sand bread eating contest:

The chief mufti of Baghdad encourages his family to part take in a sand bread eating contest. The two players sit opposite each other at the table. Both receive a tea light and a pack of matches. The chief mufti has 8 crackers an the challenger has 5. The crackers are piled up in front of the players. On 3, both players light their candles. The aim of the game is to eat all the biscuits as quickly as possible. However you are only allowed to eat while your own candle is burning. That means you have to try and blow your opponent's candle out, keep your own alight and eat your biscuits. The first player to whistle wins. Very funny! If the challenger wins, his family's camel may move forward 3 spaces.
Chief Mufti's birthday:

The whole family is invited to the Chief Mufti of Baghdad's birthday party. It is obvious that he cannot just go like he is. Now everyone in the family is required to style the chief Mufti. As far as possible, creativity is judged.
Desert snake meal:

A special type of snake lives in the desert - the desert rat snake. This snake tastes wonderful. It is very popular as a delicacy at rallies. A representative of each team must eat a liquorice snake as quickly as possible without using their hands.
Airing the palm leaf tea:

Palm leaf tea is THE speciality of the Bedouins. However before it can be enjoyed, a complex production procedure must be worked through. Airing the tea is part of this procedure. A tea bag must be thrown as far possible by taking the label in the mouth and swinging it.

If all of the games have been played but the time is not over, the game squares can be removed from the game and the game can be carried on without them.

End of the game:

At …..o’clock the game will brought to a close (last round). The team with the camel in front wins.

Material:

Large dice
Newspapers (over 400 pages)
Paper and pen for each group, toilet paper, bowls
Lucky wheel
Cardboard
Paper camels
Sheet of paper
String, Liquorice snakes, 4 packets of biscuits, 8 packs of marshmallows, 10 tea lights, tape, 20 tea bags, matches