In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, our Playing from Scratch game this month is Las Chivas, a variation of the game matatenas or as commonly known in the United States, jacks.
Supplies:
- 10-20 pebbles or dried beans
- Note: The number of pebbles is determined by the size of the player’s hand.
- A wide, shallow bowl or box lid
- If played outside a wide, shallow hole can be dug in the ground
To Play:
- Place the bowl on the ground.
- Designate a ‘tossing line’ about 6-to-8 feet from the bowl.
- While holding all the pebbles in one hand, Player 1 stands at the ‘tossing line’ and gently tosses all the pebbles simultaneously toward and hopefully into the bowl. S/he then walks up and removes ONLY the pebbles that are in the bowl. These are then placed on the back of her/his dominate hand. Once these are balanced on the back of the hand the pebbles are flipped into the air and caught in the palm of the same hand. Count the number of pebbles caught. It is now the next player’s turn.
- The person who with the highest pebble count is the winner.
Resources:
Pre-Hispanic Marbles, or Jacks? (n.d.) Retrieved August 30, 2015 from http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/artefacts/pre-hispanic-marbles-or-jacks
Quezada, F. (August 30, 2015) Email interview.
Sierra, J. & Kaminski, R. (1995) Children’s Traditional Games: Games from 137 Countries and Cultures. Oryx Press: Phoenix AZ