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Family Game Night
by
T.W. Winslow
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.
Passing Thoughts is a syndicated weekly column written by T.W.
Winslow - read by millions around the world each week. For reprint
info, contact the
author at: taddgroup@aol.com
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