Passing Thoughts, by T.W. Winslow

Family Game Night

When I was a child I loved to play board games. There was

nothing better than gathering the family around the kitchen

table for a rousing game of Monopoly. Playing games with my

brothers and parents was great fun, but the best thing was it

brought us all together as a family. In between rolls of the

dice we talked and laughed about all kinds of things, and in

doing so it helped us to bond.

It seems in our current age of technology, the board game and

family game night is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

Children today are more interested in video and computer games

with their amazing graphics and fast paced action then they are

in such mundane things as board games – or are they?

I would venture to guess my two children are pretty typical

kids. They both enjoy the new video and computer games and can

sit for hours (if allowed), staring at the screen battling

warriors from distant planets, taking on the best of the NBA,

and racing along side their favorite NASCAR drivers. With the

excitement and challenge these games have to offer, it's easy

to see why our faithful Monopoly game sits collecting dust in

the hall closet – until recently that is.

My seven year old daughter recently spent her hard earned

allowance on a new game. As five dollars doesn't buy any of

the modern electronic titles, she had to settle for something a

bit more old fashioned. She selected a wonderful game;

Mancala. If you know anything about this game, you wouldn't

think it would stand a chance in the wake of the allure of

moderns electronic games.

Mancala may well be one of the oldest games in the world. It

is a wholly mathematical game and its more complex versions

have as much scope as Chess despite rather primitive origins.

Stone Mancala boards have been found carved into the roofs of

temples in Memphis, Thebes and Luxor – the game was definitely

being played in Egypt before 1400 B.C. Mancala variations are

played all over Africa and in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia,

Malaysia, as well as the Philippines. Today, Mancala in

various forms is played all over the world.

Clearly, this game would be much different than the electronic

games my daughter was more familiar with, and I had my

suspicions that the game would suffer the same dusty fate as

did our Monopoly game. Much to my surprise, however, the game

was a huge success. Our children loved playing it every bit as

much as my wife and I did. For the first time in a long time

we sat around the table as a family – no television, no

computers or other distractions, and spent the entire evening

playing, laughing, and talking.

It's almost comical how it took a centuries old game – a simple

wooden plank and a handful of "seeds," to bring us together for

an evening of fun and togetherness. (Educational fun I might

add.)

Watching the smiling faces of my family as we played, laughed,

and talked into the night reminded me how important simple

family activities such as a family game night are. With so

many distractions and commitments pulling family members in any

number of different directions, those things which bring a

family together are few and far between.

Unknowingly, my daughter and her primitive five dollar game

helped bring us together as a family and inspired us to begin a

new tradition in our house – family game night.

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