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276 Reading: The Sport of Champions!
and materials to decorate the carton. If you provide cleaned out tuna cans, let the kids cover
them with construction paper and decorate with markers. If you provide another type of
container, the kids may not be able to decorate them. Distribute 24 marbles or other tokens per
child.
How to play Mancala
This game originated in Africa and there are several variations on rules. A simple way for two
players to play is to place 4 marbles (or whatever play pieces you have provided) in each section
of the egg carton. Place the tuna cans or other containers on each side of the egg carton. These
are the mancalas. The first player picks up the marbles in one of the cups on his side of the
carton and redistributes them into the next cups, one at a time. If he reaches the mancala on his
side (the one to his right) one marble can be dropped into the mancala. If the marble dropped
into the mancala is the last marble, the player gets another turn. If the player drops his last
marble in an empty cup on his side of the board, he gets to collect all of the marbles in the cup
opposite that one and drops the captured marbles plus the one he dropped into the empty cup
into his mancala. The player never drops a marble into his opponent’s mancala. Players cannot
touch the marbles to count them before deciding which cup to play from. Play continues until
one player has no marbles on his side. When that happens the other player captures the
remaining marbles on his side and drops them in his mancala. Count the marbles in each
mancala to determine the winner. For variations on how to play the game, see Mind Sports
Worldwide, www.msoworld.com/mindzine/news/classic/mancala.html.
Games and Activities
Go Fly a Kite!
Kite flying is an international pastime and “Fly a Kite Day” is celebrated on June 15, the
anniversary of Benjamin Franklin’s kite flying experiment. Purchase inexpensive paper kites or
provide instructions and materials for kids to make their own. Then, go out and fly the kites. If
space, or winds, does not permit this, other options are to hold a kite parade in which the
children march holding their kites or hang the kites to decorate the library. Check out “Kites as
an Educational Tool” on the Gomberg Kite Productions International web site,
www.gombergkites.com/nkm/index.html, to learn the word kite in various languages, as well as
instructions for making and flying kites.
Guest Speakers
Check local community colleges and universities for exchange students from various countries.
Invite the students to talk about sports and games in their country. Ask the guests to share some
of the games they played as children.
Videos/DVDs/Films
If you have public performance rights, show these videos and DVDs, or segments of them, to
the children. Otherwise, display them for home use.