Flip Flop

... pegs are numbered one to nine ...
... the die rolled 5...
... I can flip down 5 or 4+1 or 2+3 ...

Bonnie introduced us to Flip Flop, a game she bought at a fair where people were raising money for some good causes.

The game is beautiful, partly because it has the charm of both wood and fabric in its set-up.

“I think this game will help with math,” Bonnie said, so I roped in Michael.

It wasn’t long before Alice was leaning over my shoulder, since there is plenty of laughter in rolling the die and sorting out which pegs will add up to that number.

The game is easy: flop down the peg when the roll of the die can add up to that number or is that number. And then what is left when you can no longer flip down the markers, that number is the score you get against you.

... all the pegs have been flipped down ...
... and I get 10 points subtracted from my score ...
... what a joy! ...

Now what was fun about the game is that it wasn’t long before Betty was by our side, watching how to do that and even roping me into playing a game with her on her own.

I always see so many hands when I play: three pair weaving over and under each other, reaching for the die or to flip down a peg, or one of their hands policing the hands of the other.

I often bend the rules when someone young is beside me. In this game it is not so much the score, but the fun of combinations of numbers.

I am sure there must be other math games like this one, but this is the first time I have learned to love the combinations of numbers up to twelve.

I am a late-to-the-joys-of-math grandmother.

Arta