Games and Rules: A Fair Play and Sportsmanship Quiz
An 8-question sportsmanship quiz for children aged 5-10: owning up in hopscotch, welcoming a latecomer to musical chairs, shaking hands after a 3-1 football loss and settling a Free Parking argument in Monopoly.
Games are fun when everyone plays fair and respects each other. This sportsmanship quiz starts with the easiest questions — why we explain the rules of tag before we start, and what you say after losing a football match 3-1 — and works up to trickier ones, like the Free Parking argument in Monopoly, where younger players may want a grown-up to read the question with them. Every situation comes from a game children really play: tag, hopscotch, musical chairs, football, Snakes and Ladders and Monopoly. Answer calmly: this sportsmanship quiz is about understanding, not guessing.
Test Your Fair Play and Sportsmanship Knowledge
Sportsmanship Quiz: Fair Play in Games
1. Why do we explain the rules of a game like tag or Snakes and Ladders to everyone before it starts?
- So everyone knows equally what they can and can't do
- So the players who already know the game can begin first
- So a rule can be added later if the game isn't going your way
Answer
So everyone knows equally what they can and can't do
The rules apply equally to everyone, which is why they're explained beforehand. If some players know them and others don't, or a rule appears halfway through, the game stops being fair — even when nobody meant to cheat.
2. Your football team loses a match 3-1. How does a good sport act afterwards?
- Shakes hands with the winners, even though losing stings
- Says well done to one player, then walks off before the other team lines up
- Talks about the two decisions that went against your team
Answer
Shakes hands with the winners, even though losing stings
Losing is part of the game, and the handshake at the end of a match shows true sportsmanship. Slipping away early or going straight to the decisions you didn't like takes something away from the other team's win — and the few minutes right after the whistle are what everyone remembers.
3. In a game of hopscotch your foot lands on the chalk line, but nobody saw it. Do you say something anyway?
- Yes — you say so yourself and let your turn end
- No — you say nothing and tell yourself you'll be extra careful next turn
- Only if somebody asks you about it
Answer
Yes — you say so yourself and let your turn end
Fair play means following the rules even when no one is watching. A turn you only kept because nobody noticed isn't really won, and the other players will trust you next time precisely because you said so yourself.
4. Why does a football match have a referee watching the play?
- To decide fairly when players disagree, without taking either team's side
- To spot the fouls, so the players can concentrate on playing
- To keep score and remember the time so the players don't have to
Answer
To decide fairly when players disagree, without taking either team's side
Spotting fouls and keeping the time are both part of the job, but the real reason is that the referee doesn't want either team to win. Someone standing outside both teams has to settle the disagreements, or the players would still be arguing at the final whistle.
5. A new child wants to join your game of musical chairs, which has already started. Imagine you are that child — which of the three choices would you want the others to make?
- Explain the rules and include them from the next round
- Let them watch until this game finishes, then start a new one together
- Bring them in straight away, in the middle of the round
Answer
Explain the rules and include them from the next round
This way the new child isn't left out, while the round already in progress stays fair for everyone else. Watching a whole game go by is a long wait, and joining mid-round means somebody loses a chair they had already won — one short round is the smallest cost to anyone.
6. In Monopoly, one player says you win money for landing on Free Parking and another says you don't. Neither will back down. Who should settle the argument?
- The instructions that came with the game — you read the rule and go by that
- The way it's always played at home, where Free Parking pays out
- A quick vote, with whichever side has more players winning
Answer
The instructions that came with the game — you read the rule and go by that
The rulebook says no money is collected on Free Parking. A house rule is fine if everyone agrees to it before the first roll, but once the argument has started, the written rule is the fairest judge — and being in the bigger group doesn't make an answer correct.
7. In Snakes and Ladders you roll the dice and get a 2, but you needed a 6 to avoid a snake. What does fair play look like?
- Accept the roll and move your counter down the snake
- Ask for one extra roll, since you're the furthest behind
- Roll again, because the dice tipped against the edge of the board
Answer
Accept the roll and move your counter down the snake
Accepting a roll you don't like is part of the game. An extra roll for the player who's behind sounds kind, and a dice against the edge sounds like bad luck — but both are reasons you'd only think of when the number goes against you, and that's what makes them unfair.
8. There's a child on your team who plays less well and often makes mistakes. Which behaviour shows real sportsmanship?
- You encourage them and help them learn
- You give them the easy jobs only, so they can't make a mistake
- You take their turns for them when the score is close
Answer
You encourage them and help them learn
A good teammate helps others improve. Keeping someone away from the hard parts or playing their turns for them feels like helping, and it may even protect the score — but it tells them they aren't really trusted. That's the best answer in any sportsmanship quiz, and in the playground too.