Happy Leap Year!

The highlight of my day was playing Leap Frog with the kids on the playground. We're so lucky to have a beautiful outdoor space that isn't muddy (thank you turf) and beautiful sunny days like today.

Yesterday I found a way to make a Mancala game at home. Here's a picture of the one I made. Can you find the "pit" with 3 Reese's Pieces Cereal instead of 4? I couldn't help it, I'm training for a 1/2 marathon and was starving after a run.

If you want to make your own, just cut up an old egg carton. Put 4 pieces of something (dried beans, marbles, legos, etc) in each hole. I used empty yogurt containers as my mancalas. Here are the rules:

1. The Mancala 'board' is made up of two rows of six holes, or pits, each.
2. Four pieces -- marbles or stones -- are placed in each of the 12 holes.
3. Each player has a 'store' to the right side of the Mancala board.
4. The game begins with one player picking up all of the pieces in any one of the holes on his side.
5. Moving counter-clockwise, the player deposits one of the stones in each hole until the stones run out.
6. If you run into your own store, deposit one piece in it. If you run into your opponent's store, skip it.
7. If the last piece you drop is in your own store, you get a free turn.
8. If the last piece you drop is in an empty hole on your side, you capture that piece and any pieces in the hole directly opposite.
9. Always place all captured pieces in your store.
10. The game ends when all six spaces on one side of the Mancala board are empty.
11. The player who still has pieces on his side of the board when the game ends captures all of those pieces.
12. Count all the pieces in each store. The winner is the player with the most pieces.

Did your child tell you about Leap Year? How old would a child who was born on February 29th be in Kindergarten?