Tag: pattern recognition

How to Play – Mancala

Part of the fun in raising Zoey is finding things that delight and educate her; I want to find fun, creative board games to play with her during our family game nights! This week we played one of my all-time favorites, Mancala!

Zoey needed a little guidance, but she was able to grasp this game even though she’s under the age recommendation of 6 and up! And she won! Go Zoey!

When I’m researching the rules for these games I’ve played since childhood, I am discovering that I’ve been playing them differently for years! For example, I had not put the “captured” stones in our stores, just continued playing with them! Either way is still fun though!

So let’s play!

IN THE BOX
  • 48 stones
  • A game board
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Place four stones in each of the 12 pockets on the game board.
  2. Each player has a store (or Mancala) to the right, on their side of the Mancala board.
  3. The game begins with one player picking up all of the stones in any one of the pockets on their side.
  4. Moving counter-clockwise, the player deposits one of the stones in each pocket until the stones run out.
  5. f you run into your own Mancala (store), deposit one stone in it. If you run into your opponent’s Mancala, skip it and continue moving to the next pocket.
  6. If the last stone you drop is into your own Mancala, you take another turn.
  7. If the last stone you drop is in an empty pocket on your side, you “capture” any stones in the pocket directly opposite. Place these captured stones into your Mancala.
  8. The game ends when all six pockets on one side of the Mancala board are empty.
  9. The player who still has stones on his/her side of the board when the game ends captures all of those stones into their Mancala.
  10. Count all the stones in each Mancala, the player with the most stones wins!

ENJOY!

How to Play – Crazy 8’s

Part of the fun in raising Zoey is finding things that delight and educate her; I want to find fun, creative board games to play with her during our family game nights! This week we played Crazy 8’s the LotFancy version for 2 to 5 players.

This specific Crazy 8’s game is designed for kids and does a great job at reminding Zoey of the shapes she’s already learned and introducing her to strategy! The graphics are adorable and gameplay is fun and engaging; very reminiscent of Uno!

So let’s play!

IN THE BOX
  • 40 cards
INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Shuffle all the cards and deal 5 to each player.
  2. Place the remaining cards face-down in a draw pile, turn over the top card and place face-up next to the draw pile (if it’s an 8 draw another card and put the 8 back in the middle of the deck).
  3. Players take turns. On a turn, play a card face up on the card next to the draw pile (it must be the same number or shape).
  4. If you can’t play a card from your hand, you must draw cards from the draw pile one at a time until you can play one. Any cards you pick up are now part of your hand.
  5. All 8’s (unicorns) are wild and can be played on any card. If you play a unicorn, you then declare which shape the next player must play.
  6. Once you play a card, your turn is over.  The person on your left goes next.
  7. If the draw pile runs out of cards, leave the top card and shuffle the cards from the common pile into a new draw pile.
  8. The first player to get rid of all their cards is the winner!
*Bonus rules for a twist!
  • When a 4 is played, wave your magic wand and skip to the next player.
  • When a 6 is played, the monster has spooked you and the order of play reverses.

ENJOY!

How to Play – Go Fish

Part of the fun in raising Zoey is finding things that delight and educate her; I want to find fun, creative board games to play with her during our family game nights! This week we played Go Fish the LotFancy version for 2 to 4 players.

This specific Go Fish game is designed for kids and does a great job at reminding Zoey of the numbers she’s already learned and recognizing /collecting matching sets! I remember when I used to play this with regular playing cards, which could be fun to introduce her to at a later date! I remember we would sometimes combine two decks of playing cards so more people could play and/or we could play for longer! Good times!

So let’s play!

IN THE BOX
  • 40 cards
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Players take turns trying to collect sets of 4 sea creatures and whomever collects the most sets, wins!
  2. Shuffle the cards and deal 5 to each player.
  3. Place the remaining cards face-down in a pile between the players. This is your “pool of aquatic animals”.
  4. The youngest player goes first, then play continues clockwise.
  5. On your turn, pick any player and ask them if they have a specific number card (it must be one you already have in your hand). If they do, they must give you all their cards with that number. You then get to take another turn! If they do not have that card, then they tell you to “Go Fish!” And you draw 1 card from the pool of aquatic animals. If you happen to draw a card with the number you asked for, show the card to the group, place it in your hand and you get another turn! Otherwise place the card in your hand and your turn is over.
  6. When a player collects 4 of the same sea creatures, they place them face up in front of them.
  7. If a player runs out of cards at any point, they draw one card from the pool of aquatic animals at the end of the current turn.
  8. When the pool of aquatic animals is empty, the game is over. The player with the most set of matching cards wins!

ENJOY!