Play a Board Game to Explore Cultures in a Novel Way

Posted by Elijah on February 18th, 2023

A fun method to learn about another culture is to play and learn board games. A great approach to introduce children to the culture and language of people from throughout the world is by teaching them a board game. This could serve as the basis for a social studies investigation. Children are exposed to a new culture as they learn the rules and strategies of a new game. Playing board games also helps kids learn social skills like fairness and cooperation.

The level of difficulty in board games varies. Certain games, such Shisima เว็บไทเกอร์, Puluc, and Yut, which are from Korea, Kenya, India, and Kenya respectively, as well as Tigers and Goats, have straightforward rules. Certain games, like Go and Chess, are better suited to teenagers since they need a lot of thinking.

In pre-dynastic Egypt, senet has been played since about 3500 B.C. The world's oldest board game is this one. The 30 squares of the Senet board stand in for the 30 days of the month of Thoth, the first month of the ancient Egyptian year. More than fifty Senet boards, along with the game's pieces and knucklebone dice, have been discovered in ancient Egyptian tombs.

Popular board game Mancala is played all around the world. Mancala originated in Africa and was brought to the Middle East, South Asia, and India via Arab trade. The slave trade also reached Brazil and the Caribbean. Players sow counters or seeds into the two, three, or four rows of holes on the Mancala board, illustrating the game's relationship to early agricultural communities. The board is often a piece of wood with holes carved into it, although the game can also be played in holes dug into the ground. The names and spellings of the rules in Mancala vary widely. Several other names, like Warri in the Caribbean, Endodoi among the Masai in Kenya, Otjitoto among the Herero in Namibia, and Chonka in the Philippines, are also used to refer to it among the varied populations of the world. It is being played at coffee shops across the West.

Online resources for board games are aplenty. You may download and print board templates from certain websites. Make your own game boards and components to play board games rather than purchasing them. Extrapolate it to current life by considering the game pieces used by earlier cultures, such as shells, beans, seeds, and twigs. Bottle caps, poker chips, and buttons are all acceptable decorations. These boards can be made using basic tools and supplies; often, a pencil, ruler, and sheet of paper will do. A Mancala board can be created by drilling holes into a piece of hardwood or, for a more complex pattern, by stitching swatches into a piece of cloth.

Encourage your students to start a club for video games. Encourage kids to find games online, learn the rules, design a few special boards, and play the games. You may concentrate on a new part of the world each month. Each club member might select a game, build the game board and pieces, and then introduce it to the other club members. The cost of establishing the club is not very high.

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Elijah

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Elijah
Joined: August 6th, 2022
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