Black History Month

Mankala

Description

Teach interested participants to make and play their own game of mankala, an amusement enjoyed throughout Africa.

Procedure

Using an egg carton, twelve small bowls, or saucers scooped out in sand, have players place four beans, seeds, or other colored markers in each cup.

1. The first player empties one cup and sows the markers into each of the next four cups.
2. The player then empties the fifth cup and drops the five markers in the next five cups. The player continues sowing seeds until reaching an empty cup to contain the last seed.
3. The second player begins at any cup and duplicates the sowing system.
4. Scoring awards a point for any player whose last seed falls in a cup containing three seeds. The player receives all four seeds.
5. When only eight seeds remain, the next player claims them.
6. The player with the most seeds wins.

Sources

"The Arcade," Homefront, Winter 1997, 19.
"Mankala," http://www.elf.org.

Alternative Applications

Using desktop publishing software, create an illustrated guide to mankala. Begin with a storyboard and draw in each panel the steps to setting up a board and playing the game. Complete the project with a drawing of a game in progress on the cover. Bind finished introductions to mankala to distribute as giveaways at summer reading programs, religious camps, children's birthday parties, and events with door prizes.