This project includes patterns and instructions for making game boards for two mancala games from different regions in Africa. The games are ba-awa, from the Twi people of Ghana in Africa, and kiuthi, played by the Masai tribe of Kenya. In both of these games, you "sow" seeds in holes and try to capture as many seeds as possible.
Mancala games are usually played on wood or molded clay game boards. In that spirit, the game boards in this project are made using homemade clay dough from the recipe included in the project.
At the end of this project page, learn more about the history and rules of Mancala.
Download and print two copies of the pattern for the mancala game board of your choice. The pattern is for half the game board, and is used to size and position the holes. After printing the patterns, cut them out on the black outline, cutting away the glue tab on one of the patterns. Glue the two halves together to complete your game board pattern.
Patterns are Adobe PDF files. The Adobe Reader is available for free.
All of Aunt Annie's project patterns are designed to be printed on standard letter-size paper (8.5"x11" or A4). When printing from Adobe Reader, you may need to select Auto-Rotate and Center or Choose paper source by PDF page size to ensure the best fit.
Makes about 2 cups of dough clay.
Using your oiled hands and a rolling pin, pat and roll the clay into a rectangle on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Use the printed pattern as a sizing guide. Be sure that the clay is a uniform thickness of about ½" to ¾".
Tip: Start by rolling a clay "snake" the required length, then pat the clay into the rectangular shape. Use the rolling pin to make an even thickness.
Use the toothpick to poke a hole in the center of each circle on the printed pattern. Position the printed pattern over the board and push a toothpick into the clay through the center of each hole.
Press something round (a small ball, the end of a plastic egg, a large marble, etc.) into the clay at each hole mark. Use the printed pattern to see how big to make each hole. Smooth the clay around the edges, the ends, and the holes.
Bake the dough game board in an oven at 300 degrees for
about an hour, or until dry and hard. Place the dry game board on a
wire rack to cool.
KIDS, YOU MUST GET AN ADULT TO HELP YOU WITH THE OVEN.
Paint the board with acrylic paints or poster paints. Paint the holes in a contrasting color.
You can seal the board with varnish or an acrylic finish. This will make the board more durable, and keep poster paint from rubbing off.
Mancala is a two-player game. You will need 48 seeds, pebbles, or beans to play the game. Pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds work well. The object of the game is to capture the greatest number of seeds.
Ba-awa is one of the simpler forms of mancala, and is more like the ancient version. It is played by the Twi people of Ghana in Africa.
Kiuthi is played by the Masai tribe of Kenya. The rules are a bit more complex than ba-awa, and the play is more strategic.
That's
it! Your game board is ready for a game of mancala!
Mancala is not one game, but a whole family of "pit and pebble" or
"hole and seed" games. These games are played mostly in Africa.
Mancala games are usually played on wood or molded clay game boards.
In Africa, children often make game boards by digging pits in the dirt.
Anything handy can be used as playing pieces—pebbles, seeds, beans,
small sticks.
These games are thousands of years old, but their exact origin is lost.
Mancala type games are played all over the world. They spread from
Africa to Southeast Asia, South America, and the Caribbean islands.
The name "mancala" can be traced to the Arabic word manqala. It is
derived from the verb naqala, meaning to move. It is believed that
mancala games originated near the Red Sea. Egyptian game boards from
3,500 years ago were found at Al-Qurna, Luxor, and Karnak.