is the latest rage in our house. It comes from the book Math Games from Around the World.
It starts with an 8 inch square box. Then draw a + at 4 inches. Then divide each 4 inch box with an x. Mark each intersection with a dot.
Each player needs 6 markers in different shapes or colors. We used glass beads that we had around. The game is basically an advanced tic tac toe. Each player tries to get three dots in a row by placing one marker down at a time. The center dot cannot be played until all markers are played. After all markers are down the pieces can be slid from dot to dot. No jumping allowed.
The little sister wanted to keep her board simple, but the big sister wanted to add some decorations to her board. Since this is a Native American game she added her version of American Indian patterns.
It's not an exaggeration to say that hours have been spent playing this game. It's all about building strategy. There are so many ways to set 'traps' with this game and I have to say even for myself became quite addicting.
The things I love about this game is that all the spaces are not evenly spaced so it really threw me initially to look for all the ways 3 dots line up. The dots along the edge and down the center were the easiest to miss because I would focus in on the details, forgetting the bigger picture. I love games that build awareness like this as I'm always about the bigger metaphor of things. I really do think games like this as well as folk tales and other metaphorical vehicles do translate into life at large. Awareness and thinking ahead are life long skills that cannot get enough sharpening in my book.
