Iroquois Plate Game

We've been learning a lot about Indians through our history curriculum. Nicholas loves studying Indians and the Iroquois are one of his favorite tribes.

We created an Iroquois Plate Game which is similar to an old game that these Indians are said to have played.

Supplies needed:
marker
6 lima beans
paper plate (we only had styrofoam)

Nicholas started by using a marker to color one side of six lima beans.



We should have used a different kind of marker. This one dries fine on paper but took forever to dry on a lima bean or a styrofoam plate.



Nicholas then used a ruler and marker to divide his plate into four sections. Then he drew symbols to represent the four Iroquois clan symbols - turtle, wolf, deer, and bear. He was going to color them with markers but again, these markers weren't drying well and after smearing the blue lines on the plate he decided against using those markers anymore.



Now the game was complete.

Time to play!

Nicholas started the game off. He put the six lima beans on the plate and gripped the plate rim with both hands. He tapped it down on the table just enough to make the lima beans jump up and then we watched to see where they would land. If five out of six lima beans land with the same color facing up then the player gets one point. The first person to 10 points wins the game. Rachel and I took our turns and we continued to play until Nicholas finally won the game.



Games and crafts are a fun way to bring other cultures to life for children. We try to integrate hands-on activities like this in our daily homeschool life.