Great Games that Get Kids to Think - Games 2-14: Dominoes Around the World

Continuing with the topic of Great Games that Get Kids to Think...

Well, the next is not one game, but a collection of games from around the world.
The games all appear in a well written picture book for children called Dominoes Around the World written by Mary D. Lankford and illustrated by Karen Dugan.

This book will be enjoyed by all who read it and play the games in the book.
The games are clearly explained and the illustrations are wonderful...each page features realistic illustrations of children playing dominoes in their native country.

Dominoes are played in many countries and continents around the globe.
This neat book lists a collection of traditional dominoes games from Cuba, France, Malta, The Netherlands, Spain, Ukraine, United States, and Vietnam, along with modern takes on dominoes.

Dominoes Around the World also gives a great multicultural perspective, as well as a bit of a historical perspective.

What also is nice is that it includes a bibliography. Then, if your child becomes totally engrossed in dominoes and wants to learn more about them, you will have some great ideas for additional resources on dominoes. 


This book gets children to not only think about different ways to play dominoes, and the logic and math involved in playing dominoes, it also gets them to think about the various countries of origin of the dominoes games. 


Dominoes Around the World does not come with dominoes, so you will have to get your own set or sets, depending on if you want to play all of the games in the book.  
The dominoes games from this great book would also be fun to do for a family game night. 
You could also add some flair by serving some dinner from the country of origin for the particular dominoes game you plan to try for that night...
So maybe you could make some neat grilled Cuban sandwiches and then, play the Cuban Dominoes game or make some Crepes Suzette or Quiche Lorraine and then, try out the French Draw dominoes game. 

We love playing dominoes here, especially Big Bro.
Many times, he comes up with his own sort of version of dominoes.
 
We also use dominoes in conjunction with our Montessori bead material as a work / extension of sorts. 


To use Dominoes Around the World as a Montessori inspired work for your homeschool or classroom, place the following items on a tray or in a nice basket: the book, Dominoes Around the World, a map that has the various countries where these games originated, a few sets of dominoes, as well as individual pictorial charts  (for your control of error) to go with each game listed in the book. 
This way, children will be able to see if they have set up the game correctly as they play. 
You could also add some pin map work for them to locate the countries of origin for each of the games.


In another box when the card says to "Work with Mom", you could do a work together activity of looking up the countries and possibly making a snack to tie in with a particular domino playing country. 
The book and the additional items are small enough that it will easily fit into a plastic workbox, if you prefer this system for your homeschooling. For your workbox label, you could simply take a photo of a domino that has the same number of dots as the  number you assign to the workbox.



Dominoes Around the World  is one of several "Around the World' themed books that Mary D. Lankford has written. Some of her other books include:
Hopscotch Around the World, Jacks Around the World, Mazes Around the World, Christmas Around the World, Birthdays Around the World, and others.

Her books are available through Amazon, as well as other online booksellers.