Mancala is a strategy game played by 2 players and can be found throughout the world. Although the rules vary from region to region, the basic game play is the same. Bao la Kiswahili, or Bao for short, is a variation of the game played frequently in East Africa. Kenyan and Tanzanian children learn to play the game by watching adults. Mancala tournaments are an important part of their culture. Boa is one of the more complicated mancala games. The variation in North America is called Kalah. These are the rules for the most common and simplest variation of Mancala.

Game Board:

The mancala board is made up of two rows of six holes, also called “pits”. There is also a larger hole on either end of the 2 rows called “stores”. Mancala uses 48 small game pieces. You can find instructions for making your own mancala game board below.

How to Play:

• Two players position the board horizontally between them. The “store” to the right of each player belongs to them.
• Begin by placing 4 pieces in in each hole. (Do not put pieces in the stores.) The color of the pieces is irrelevant.
• The game begins when one player picks up all of the pieces in any one of the holes on their side.
• Moving counter-clockwise, the player deposits one of the stones in each hole until the stones run out.
• If the player passes over their own store, they deposit one piece in it. If they pass over their opponent’s store, they skip it.
• If the last piece they drop is in their own store, they get a free turn.
• If the last piece they drop is in an empty hole on their side, they capture that piece and any pieces in the hole directly opposite.
• At the end of a turn, the player places all captured pieces in their own store.
• The game ends when all six spaces on one side of the mancala board are empty.
• The player who still has pieces on their side of the board at the end of the game captures all of those pieces and puts them in their store.
• Count all the pieces in each store. The player with the most pieces wins.

How to Make a Mancala Board:

Materials:

• egg carton
• paint, markers or crayons
• beads/pebbles/beans/seeds for game pieces
• 2 small containers for “store”

Cut the lid and flap off a paper egg carton.

Using paint, markers or crayons, decorate your mancala board.

Collect 48 small items. These can be dried beans, pebbles, marbles, shells, buttons, etc. Note: We had some lovely wooden tribal beads that were perfect!

Find 2 containers to use as your “store” for holding the “seeds”. These can be bowls or some type of small container. We recycled lids from our dog’s discarded treat jars!

You are now ready to play! Although the rules may seem simple, there is a great deal of strategy involved.

NOTE: Although we loved the way our painted paper mancala board looked, when we started playing with it, we found it very difficult to get our beads out of the holes! We made a second board using a short cup Styrofoam egg carton. If you would like to paint it, you will need to use acrylic paints or permanent markers. Any water based, washable paints will not stick to the carton. We painted our second mancala game board using purple acrylic paints. We had some small, flat glass pieces from another project that worked very well. Although not very “authentic” looking, it is much easier to get the “seeds” out of the “holes”.