earth day celebration

Thank you to Mrs. Bludgen, Mrs. Austin, Mrs. Bryant, Mrs. Bolger, and Mrs. Cussans for working so hard to plan our Earth Day Celebration. We reused materials from home to make flowers and play Mancala. Second graders ate a cup of dirt (worms and all!) and heard We Are Extremely Very Good Recyclers as a a readers theater by the second grade teachers. Today or this weekend try to do something special for our planet - pick up some trash around the neighborhood playground, plant a tree, reduce your waste, or toss paper, cans, glass, and cardboard into your recycle bins!

You can play Mancala at home with your egg carton and 24 pieces of anything that'll fit in the carton's cups. Here's how:

The object of the game is to collect as many stones as possible before your opponent clears all the stones on his side of the board. Each player sits facing a lnog sid of the board (or egg carton for all of our Earth Day conscience reusers!). The six cups on your side, and the space on the floor to the right of the board (your Mancala), belong to you.

Each player places four stones into the three cups on their far right. Alternat turns. To take your turn, pick up all the stones from one cup on your side adn place them one by one in the cups around the board, including your Mancala space beside the board, in a clockwise direction.  If the last stone is dropped into your Mancala, you can tak another turn. If the last stone of your turn is dropped into an empty cup on your own side, you may tak al the stones from your opponent's cup directly opposite your empty cup. All the captured stones, and the stone you used to make the capture, can be placed in your Mancala.

The game ends when one player has no more stones on his or her side. Teh remaining player can deposit all the stones left on his or her side into his or her own Mancala. The winner is the player withthe most stones in his or her Mancala.

Have fun!