The game of Mancala has been played for thousands of years throughout Africa and the Middle East.  It was originally played with pebbles and lines drawn in the dirt by children, but as the popularity of the game has increased worldwide, playing boards have been made out of a variety of materials such as wood and plastic.  

Have your kids make their own Mancala set and learn to play this simple yet intriguing game in a matter of minutes!


MAKE YOUR OWN MANCALA SET

SUPPLIES:
2 empty egg cartons (1 dozen size)
Washable tempra paints (in a few favorite colors)
48 small pebbles
small paint brushes


INSTRUCTIONS:
Paint the sections in the first carton whichever colors you desire.  Paint each half of the lid one color.  

Remove the lid from the second carton and cut it in half.  Paint each half to match the attached lid of the first carton (see photo below).  

The carton will not only provide the playing surface but will also serve as the storage container for the pebbles and mancala.



HOW TO PLAY MANCALA

OBJECT OF GAME:
Collect the most stones in your mancala.  Mancalas are the large areas traditionally at either end of the playing surface --  in  our case, the inside lid of the second egg carton which has been cut in half.


SET UP:
Take the two mancalas and put them on either end of egg carton (see picture below).

Place 4 stones in every section except the mancalas.  Once you have placed 4 stones in each section you are ready to play.  Place the board between the players, with one player at each end of the carton.


GENERAL RULES:
Each player "owns" the mancala closest to them as well as the column of six sections on their right.  

Each player starts his turn by scooping up all the stones from any one of his sections and placing them, one stone at a time, in each section traveling clockwise around the board. A player may never start from a mancala or from one of his opponent's sections

If a player reaches his own mancala when moving around the board, he drops a stone into it and continues around the board until he has no more stones in his hand. Once a stone is dropped into a mancala it stays there until the end of the game.  Players never drop stones into their opponent's mancala, they skip them and continue dropping stones on the next side of the board

If the last pebble in play is placed in the player's own mancala, he gets another turn.  

If the last pebble is placed in an empty section on the player's own side of the board, then he captures the pebbles in the opposite (his opponent's) section, and his turn is over.  All captured pebbles, as well as the capturing piece, are placed in the player's mancala.  

If the last pebble is placed in one of his opponent's sections, then his turn is over.

The game ends when all of the sections on one side of the board are empty.  The player with pebbles remaining gets to put them into his mancala.  Both players count their pebbles.  Whoever has the most pebbles is the winner.

©2006 photo/momready, LLC