Knucklebones Game

crayola supplies

Markers
Model Magic®
No-Run School Glue

household supplies

chenille sticks (optional)
masking tape (optional)

Why

Create an ancient game with a modern twist - Crayola® Model Magic® bones! Have fun playing Knucklebones!

Steps

1. People like to play games. It's how we have fun and how we learn. One game that has been played since ancient times is called Knucklebones. It is played like jacks or marbles. You'll find kids playing their own versions of this game in many countries around the world.
2. Can you guess why this game is called Knucklebones? Yes, it was originally played with animal bones! Many children still make their own games from whatever they have at hand.
3. You can make your game bones from Crayola Model Magic. Fashion four small bones in a rectangle with long and short sides. To make colorful bones, knead in the ink from Crayola Washable Markers. Model Magic sticks to itself, so press the corners together tightly. You may want to glue pieces together with Crayola School Glue because these bones are in for some action! Another way to make stronger bones is to wrap the Model Magic around a chenille stem or vice versa. Make several sets of bones for each player. Dry overnight.
4. Decorate your bones with markers so you can recognize your bones during the game.
5. In Iraq, Knucklebones is played in a ring. Children draw a big circle in the dirt that's as wide as a tall basketball player is high. You could create a circle outdoors on the sidewalk with Crayola Sidewalk Chalk, or indoors with masking tape on a smooth floor.
6. Each player places an equal number of knucklebones in the center of the ring. Keep one knucklebone out for your shooter. All players sit outside the circle.
7. To start, players take turns twirling a knucklebone (shooter) between their thumbs and first two fingers. Try to propel the shooter forward with arm movement.
8. After the first turn, the shooter is launched from the place where it landed. Players get to keep any knucklebones they knock out of the circle with their shooter. Will you play for keeps?

When & Where

"My boys like a macabre accent to familiar games. We tried using our bones like jacks while tossing one in the air."
- Jesse L., dad of 12-year-old twins.

"Our students got a big kick learning about the origins of one of my favorite expressions: Knuckle down."
- Frederica V., afterschool volunteer.

Interesting Info

The game of Knucklebones is depicted on a mural buried at Pompeii and on some ancient Greek vases. The game is mentioned in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Some cultures used bones to gamble and even to tell fortunes.

Safety Guidelines

Crayola Modeling Materials including Crayola Model Magic®, and Model Magic Fusion™, Crayola Air-Dry Clay, and Crayola Dough—

Keep away from open flames. Do not use to make candleholders, hot plates, trivets, or other similar objects that will be used or placed near fire and other heat sources.
Do not put in an oven, microwave, or kiln.
Do not make into vessels/containers that will hold unpackaged food.
The use of modeling material to make items that look like food is discouraged for children younger than age 5 to avoid their confusion with real food.
Unless sealed with a water-resistant glaze, do not make projects exposed to or immersed in water, such as boats or outdoor bird feeders. They would disintegrate when exposed to moisture.
Crayola Dough—contains gluten (wheat flour) as an ingredient.
Crayola Air-Dry Clay, Crayola Model Magic and Model Magic Fusion are gluten-free. However, they are produced on the same machinery as Crayola Dough which does contain gluten. Although the machines are cleaned prior to the start of each production run, there is a slight possibility that trace amounts of gluten from Crayola Dough may be present in the other modeling compound products. For information regarding specific ingredients or allergic concerns, please call our Consumer Affairs department at 1-800-272-9652 weekdays between 9 AM and 4 PM Eastern Standard Time.