Page 242 - DK Children's Encyclopedia

The story of...

Games Racket sports

Tennis, badminton, and
squash are sports played using a
A game is an activity or sport played racket on a special court. In tennis,
using a set of rules. Games are played opponents hit the ball across a

by individuals or by teams of players, central net, and in badminton
they hit a shuttlecock. In
who compete against each other. Some squash, the players hit the

games use balls and bats or rackets ball against a wall.
and are played on special courts;
others use boards with specially The tennis

designed game pieces. racket frame
has strings
pulled tightly
across it.
A chessboard has
a grid of black and
Board games white squares.
Tabletop games, such as
chess and backgammon, are
played on specially built boards.
Each player has a number of
pieces, such as chessmen,
that they move according
to a set of rules. Board
games were first played Ping
in ancient Egypt 5,500 pong ball
years ago. The start of a
game of chess

Stone ring to hit
the ball through.

Ball and wall games
The ancient Mayans of Central
America played a ball game on Australian
rules football
long, narrow, stone-walled Handball
courts. Players used a solid
rubber ball, which they had to
keep in play by using only their
hips and arms—they weren’t
allowed to touch it with
their hands or feet.

Stone-walled Baseball
Mayan ball court

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