This month’s playlist is all fun and games. Listen to Lorde, Lady Gaga, Luke Bryan and many others while you deal a hand of cards or play a board game. This might be the playlist to help you win it all.
Did you know one of the oldest board games in the world is the family favorite Chutes and Ladders? An ancient Indian game, it is believed to have been played as early as the 2nd century B.C.
Originally a game of moral instruction for children, the ladders stood for virtue and the snakes, bad choices and evil. In the original Hindu game, the snakes outnumbered the ladders portraying the struggle in leading a successful and morally correct life. Eventually this popular game found its way to England and was then brought to the United States by none other than Milton Bradley in 1943. Who knew a simple childhood game could have such a meaningful origin?
Family board games have experienced a resurgence in popularity since 2012. Unique games like Settlers of Catan introduced us to a different set of rules and mechanics than the traditional board games like Monopoly, Sorry, and Trivial Pursuit. This style of board gaming, also known as the Euro-game has gained in popularity in the United States as a result.
Even still, our favorite games are often the ones we played with family and friends during our childhood years. While the old games may hold a special place in our hearts, there are also plenty of new and exciting board games being created in which to build new memories too.
Try It
What is your favorite board game? Write a poem about the object of the game and the strategy it takes to win. For an even bigger challenge, write a Haiku.
Featured Poem
Here’s a recent poem from Rick we enjoyed:
Bixby Bridge
— for Carol
What fear hides in our skin has no faith in steel or design.
Through years it moves like water colors in rain,
mingles itself in moonlight, and gravity has its way,
pulling us into the dream where we have no wings.
And then there is the retrofit crew, the rusted plates
that bark like some ancient dog as the car passes over them,
a blessing in disguise, drowning the Pacific waves
that sound so much like rushing air or the last whispers
of the day as we fall into sleep, hiding in the ear
like the ocean in a shell, the dark closet of descent.
Below the magnificence of the coast is a postcard,
but strength does not come from the book of splendor,
it is the breath of independence that takes in the world
and floats the blue palette of the sea in your open eyes.
Photo by Vladimir Agafonkin. Creative Commons via Flickr.
Browse more Poets and Poems
Browse more writing prompts
Browse poetry teaching resources
___________________________
How to Write a Poem uses images like the buzz, the switch, the wave—from the Billy Collins poem “Introduction to Poetry”—to guide writers into new ways of writing poems. Excellent teaching tool. Anthology and prompts included.
“How to Write a Poem is a classroom must-have.”
—Callie Feyen, English Teacher, Maryland
- Poetry Prompt: Misunderstood Lion - March 19, 2018
- Animate: Lions & Lambs Poetry Prompt - March 12, 2018
- Poetry Prompt: Behind the Velvet Rope - February 26, 2018
Laura Brown says
Once we played Yahtzee
on the porch during a storm.
Thunder rolled like dice.
Heather Eure says
Clever! Sounds like one fierce game. 🙂
Sandra Heska King says
Love.
Monica Sharman says
My Yahtzee games will never be the same.
Rick Maxson says
Nice simile.
Monica Sharman says
This is the best prompt and theme ever! Now to review what I’ve learned about haiku …
https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/2013/02/27/boost-your-haiku-high-q-an-infographic/
Heather Eure says
Well done! I forgot to link the infographic. Thanks!
Monica Sharman says
Okay, we have two closets full of board games. I limited myself to seven poems for this prompt. 🙂 All but one contain the name of the board game.
—–
knight, monk, farmer, thief
tiled landscape makes each game new—
rebuild Carcassonne
—–
letter location wins
not so much vocabulary
triple word score
—–
laurel wreaths, victory points
ancient world in a card deck
Seven Wonders
—–
Star Wars dogfights
turn tight, read your opponent
TIE fighter, X-Wing
—–
win the Stone Age
optimize worker placements
please, feed the meeples
—–
strung the longest word
didn’t win, bungled Boggle—
letters have to touch
—–
train cars, trips completed
Beatles song–turned–board game
Ticket to Ride
Monica Sharman says
P.S. Here are photos of the X-Wing Miniatures game on my dining table 🙂
https://www.flickr.com/photos/monica-sharman/albums/72157649573927929
Heather Eure says
These are the coolest game pieces I’ve ever seen. Seriously. Wow.
Heather Eure says
So fun, Monica! These made me smile. Almost performed a Danny Thomas spit-take with my tea when I read “please feed the meeples”. Funny!
Sandra Heska King says
Bravo!
Rick Maxson says
Very imaginative, Monica!
Sandra Heska King says
Soot stained, smoke scented
Chutes and Ladders to the trash
Save the Dominoes.
****
Key word is M-O-L-D-Y
Category is Poets
My thinking has tanked.
my thinking has tanked
Monica Sharman says
But you, dear, are a fresh, unmoldy poet.
And you first poem . . . ah. Poems will be coming out of that time for a while? (And in my opinion, Dominoes is the better choice.)
Lee Kiblinger says
Nothing special about this one – only indicative of my life stage. The “game” prompt led me this way…..
Morning Wars
Morning War
My body sloth-like
Across the oriental rug.
His little legs pretzeled
At attention.
“Kings trump jacks,” mom.
I pray for battles
Where ammunition
Collects in my hand, and I
Stare at the mantel clock,
Wondering who is cooking breakfast.
We flip our hands in rhythm
Knowing our game
Might never end.
Morning War
We both stand in defense
My hands trembling,
Flipping pancakes.
Queens trump jacks, son
Amidst the smell of bacon
His back to me,
Hands hidden in his pockets
Collecting tricks
In silence
And I simmer and flip
And want to concede
Wishing it were all
Still a game.
Heather Eure says
This is a powerful poem, Lee. Thank you for sharing it.
Rick Maxson says
Monopoly Triolet
Roll the dice and take a chance,
pay for power as you go.
If you trespass, don’t dare glance,
if the landlord sleeps, there’s a chance
you might pass free and not enhance
another’s fortune if they’re slow.
If not, then roll the dice and take a chance,
pay for power as you go.
Heather Eure says
“pay for power as you go.” Yes! This reminds me of my relentless pursuit to own the utility companies and railroad stations. 🙂
Andrew H says
The dice roll in my head;
A rattle tattle tale.
The power of the future in my hands,
But is it really real?
Tip the hat, play the game
Roll your chance, it’s eight
Or ten. Jack or Queen,
Can you confront your fate?
I am the Jack. See, in my hands
The trickster plays his pranks –
The board is where I fight my way,
Serving a cause devoid of thanks.
Roll. Roll. Roll – the world works
As we gamble our wealth.
No need for trickery, no need for stealth
Your chance is one of twelve.
Andrew H says
Errr this was written before I saw what the one above me was about.
The similarity is a coincidence, heh.
Norma says
Poetry prompt–games [this prompt worked well for a blog I’m writing about how as we age we say “I used to. . .” a lot.
Hide and seek, 1950 and 2015
I used to run through damp grass at dusk
Hiding behind fat trees–or in the garage,
Excited that the all the kids showed up at our house.
Now I scan the shelves for my car keys
Looking for my purse–it’s not where I put it,
Concerned that the dinner date is in fifteen minutes.
Joy Acey says
Friday was National Chess Day and I wrote a chess poem for children on my blog at http://www.poetryforkidsjoy.blogspot.com.
“Let’s play chess,” Dad said.
“I’ll teach you, Son.
You’ll learn in no time.
Playing chess is fun.”
Some pieces move diagonal,
others move straight.
And it is the knight who moves
with a galloping gait.
The queen can move anywhere.
The rook has a straight line.
“Just move a piece.
Give it a try.
I know you will do fine.”
“You can tell the bishop.
He has a pointed hat.
Playing chess is easy
if you remember
all of that.”