I've always found mancala to be such a beautiful and simple game. Who doesn't enjoy handfuls of gems? We used to play mancala with egg cartons when Mane was younger, but a friend gave us this lovely wooden mancala board last year!
Mancala is easy to learn and quick to play - deceptively quick and easy, for a surprising amount of strategy comes into play as players become more experienced. Dr. Gwen Dewar at Parenting Science describes mancala as a "count and capture" game that requires strategic mental planning, deductive reasoning and math skills. (For a blow-your-mind research paper on the mathematics involved in mancala, check this out: Mancala Games - Topics in Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence.) According to The Geek Parent, mancala may be the oldest board game in the world!! Clearly, this game has a lasting appeal. Wikipedia has a fantastic listing of various mancala games and links to their rules here: Wikipedia: Mancala Games.
And here's all you really need to get started (from education.com):
Also
known as "count and capture" games, mancala games encourage kids to
conduct thought experiments, counting tokens and comparing tactics in
their heads before they move a game piece. Such qualities have
inspired educators in Africa, Europe, and the United States to bring
mancala into the classroom.
Does playing mancala actually sharpen math and thinking skills? To date, nobody has performed the relevant experiments to find out. However, competent performance requires counting and the mental movement of game tokens across a game board. And research suggests that good players use abstract or hypothetico-deductive reasoning (Retschitzki et al 1986). - See more at: http://www.parentingscience.com/mancala-games.html#sthash.xzhVgHdT.dpuf
Does playing mancala actually sharpen math and thinking skills? To date, nobody has performed the relevant experiments to find out. However, competent performance requires counting and the mental movement of game tokens across a game board. And research suggests that good players use abstract or hypothetico-deductive reasoning (Retschitzki et al 1986). - See more at: http://www.parentingscience.com/mancala-games.html#sthash.xzhVgHdT.dpuf
Also
known as "count and capture" games, mancala games encourage kids to
conduct thought experiments, counting tokens and comparing tactics in
their heads before they move a game piece. Such qualities have
inspired educators in Africa, Europe, and the United States to bring
mancala into the classroom.
Does playing mancala actually sharpen math and thinking skills? To date, nobody has performed the relevant experiments to find out. However, competent performance requires counting and the mental movement of game tokens across a game board. And research suggests that good players use abstract or hypothetico-deductive reasoning (Retschitzki et al 1986). - See more at: http://www.parentingscience.com/mancala-games.html#sthash.xzhVgHdT.dpuf
Does playing mancala actually sharpen math and thinking skills? To date, nobody has performed the relevant experiments to find out. However, competent performance requires counting and the mental movement of game tokens across a game board. And research suggests that good players use abstract or hypothetico-deductive reasoning (Retschitzki et al 1986). - See more at: http://www.parentingscience.com/mancala-games.html#sthash.xzhVgHdT.dpuf
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