OG Activities

Mancala is a popular board game. But hundreds of years ago, it was played much the same way that Coral, Josh and Fiona played it—by digging small holes in the dirt orsand and using pebbles as playing pieces. If it’s a rainy or
indoors kind of day, you can also arrange small bowls for your playing board. Marbles, seashells, pumpkin seeds or coins all work as playing pieces. Once you know the rules, you can play this fun game wherever you go.

What you’ll need:

• Playing board (Dig 14 small “bowls” or holes in the sand so it looks like the picture below. Wet sand works best.)
• 48 playing pieces (pebbles, tiny seashells or marbles

To win:

Collect as many pebbles as you can in your Mancala (the storage area at the end of the board) before the other player removes all the pebbles from the six bowls on their side of the board.

How to play:

1. Two players sit on opposite sides of the board. The larger bowl at the end of the board to the right is the player’s Mancala. The six bowls in front of each player are their bowls.
2. Place four pebbles in each of the 12 bowls as shown in the drawing.
3. To begin, one player scoops up all of the pebbles in any one bowl on their side of the board.
4. That player then drops one pebble into the bowl to the left of the empty bowl, and continues on around the board to the left by dropping pebbles one at a time in each bowl until the pebbles run out.
5. If you get to your Mancala, drop a pebble into it. If you get to the other player’s Mancala, skip it and continue dropping pebbles into holes on the other side of the board.
6. If the last pebble in your hand is dropped into your Mancala, you get another turn. If not, it’s the other player’s turn.
7. When all six bowls on one side of the board are empty, the game is over.
8. The player who still has pebbles in any of the six bowls on their side of the board when the game ends adds them to their Mancala.
9. Each player counts the pebbles in their Mancala. The player with the most pebbles is the winner.