Comments on: DreamBox Learning’s Top Educational Toys for the Holidays, No. 5 http://www.dreambox.com/blog/dreambox-learnings-top-educational-toys-for-the-holidays-no-5 Math Learning, Fun & Education Blog : Dreambox Learning Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:21:53 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Becca http://www.dreambox.com/blog/dreambox-learnings-top-educational-toys-for-the-holidays-no-5/comment-page-1#comment-171 Becca Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:25:05 +0000 http://www.dreambox.com/blog/?p=833#comment-171 Mancala was a FAVORITE among my fourth- and fifth-graders as it was usually the first game out of the cupboard during rainy day recess. I think it was a hit for multiple reasons: each "round" is fairly quick, my students were able to teach each other the rules easily so lots of kids could play, and it was a new game for many of them. I liked Mancala because it pushed them to think about, talk about, and revise various strategies. One tip for storing Mancala: Place all the marbles on one side (and make sure the marbles are in the cups) before folding it in half so that the board fits in the box. Don't force it! There were a few times that I had to work hard to get the board out because marbles had been wedged in between the halves of the board! Mancala was a FAVORITE among my fourth- and fifth-graders as it was usually the first game out of the cupboard during rainy day recess. I think it was a hit for multiple reasons: each “round” is fairly quick, my students were able to teach each other the rules easily so lots of kids could play, and it was a new game for many of them. I liked Mancala because it pushed them to think about, talk about, and revise various strategies.

One tip for storing Mancala: Place all the marbles on one side (and make sure the marbles are in the cups) before folding it in half so that the board fits in the box. Don’t force it! There were a few times that I had to work hard to get the board out because marbles had been wedged in between the halves of the board!

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