During these past few weeks, School-age 1 has been very eager to play our new game of ‘Pick up Sticks’. The children engaged each other in learning different tips and tricks for more effective play. The object of the game is to try and pick up the sticks without moving the other ones. If they end up moving them, they will have to stop, lose their turn, and then move on to the next player. Whoever has the most sticks after all of them have been picked up wins.
To start a game of Pick Up Sticks, Layla and Grace split the number of sticks in half, and then they both set the sticks facing upwards on the ground so they would fall down flat. Grace said “1...2...3…Go”. Layla picked up her first stick, and Grace took her turn after. As they continued to play the game, Layla said “Grace you moved the stick... it’s my turn now”. Grace agreed, and the game went on until there were no more sticks left. To finish off the game, both children counted how many sticks each of them had. In the end, Layla had the most sticks and was the winner of the game.
While the game may be fun it also has many developmental benefits for the children. It enhances their fine motor skills by having them carefully control and adjust their fingers to make sure no other sticks moved except for the one they are trying to pull out. It also increases their ability to use conflict resolution skills by being able to communicate their perspectives on how to apply game rules such as turn taking. Along with these important skills, it was crucial that they have learned to understand the importance of safety rules, such as keeping the sticks pointed down, not running with the sticks, and making sure that you clean after you are finished playing the game because people could potentially slip and fall. Going forward these skills will help them in other areas of their life outside of just playing Pick Up Sticks.
