Left, Right, Center, Keep

This is a great game to play with all ages, children and adults. I have played it with all age groups and it is always enjoyed. It is a great way to reinforce right and left, plus teaching fair play and sharing.

What you need :

  • a minimum of 3 wooden blocks for each group of 5-10 players
    (blocks need to be large enough to have a letter written on each side but small enough that all three blocks can be held in a child’s hand at the same time – these can be purchased in the craft department of many stores or cut out your own)
  • Using a permanent marker – write one letter on each side of the block as follows – one K, one C, two sides will have R and two sides will have L. So the blocks will contain one K, one C, 2 R’s and 2 L’s. I place the R and the L on opposite sides of the block.
  • 3 pieces of wrapped candy per player ( I like chewable wrapped candy as opposed to hard candy. Lollipops work well too! )
  • people to play

Instructions to play:
The players sit in a circle facing one another. Each person receives three pieces of candy. They place their candy in front of them. One person begins by picking up all three blocks and rolls these into the center of the circle.

  • For example – lets state that the dice rolled come up with K, C , R

The person who rolled the dice will then K = Keep one piece of candy, C = place one piece of candy into the Center of the circle and R = hand one piece of candy to the person sitting on their Right. The next person (go around the circle either direction ) takes the three blocks and rolls.

  • For example – this person gets L, L , C. This person would then hand the person on their Left 2 pieces of candy and place one piece of candy into the Center of the circle. The game continues. A person can be completely out of candy and then a few rolls later receive some from a “ neighbor” A person rolls the number of blocks corresponding to the number of pieces of candy that he or she has.
  • For example – one piece of candy – roll one block, 2 pieces of candy – roll 2 blocks, 3 pieces of candy – roll 3 blocks, more than 3 pieces of candy – still you roll 3 blocks as that is the maximum number of blocks.

Several circles can be playing at one time. I suggest having a teen leader or adult volunteer supervise each circle of players. The game ends when only one person has any candy left and the last two players with candy have rolled a final time. The person ending up with the last piece of candy is then allowed to take all the candy from the center of the circle and distribute it to all the players. With little ones, sometimes a small talk on sharing is needed!

Reprinted from Ohio 4-H Cloverbud Connections – Spring 2004 Edition.

Author – Barbara Phares, Former Extension Agent, 4-H Youth Development, Ohio State University Extension, Mercer County, Ohio

Campus Connections

Hello again! Great to make this 4-H Cloverbud “Blog” Connection with you.

Have you ever heard the phrase “ages and stages”?  You probably have a good sense about what that means. Basically that kids at particular ages have general characteristics about how they think, relate (social), feel (emotion), and grow (physical abilities). Yes, kids develop at different rates and are certainly not the same, but they do possess general developmental characteristics.

Ages and stages are important for our 4-H Cloverbud program because it is designed with activities and structure to promote positive development. It is also why the 4-H Cloverbud program is different than the program for older youth. The characteristics of 5 to 8 years olds have program implications. Here are a few examples:

  • Characteristic: Short Attention Span = Implication: Activities are short in length (5 – 10 minutes)
  • Characteristic: Energetic = Implication: Engage kids with movement and hands-on activities
  • Characteristic: Hard time separating winning/losing from own identity = Implication: Provide encouragement in noncompetitive settings

As you are doing your great work as a 4-H Cloverbud volunteer, think about the “ages and stages” of your Cloverbud kids. In doing so, we can help grow their life skills.

Thanks for your commitment to the 4-H Cloverbud program as we enhance the healthy development of children throughout the state!