Kids & Play

#65 · Play pick-up sticks

Drop a pile and carefully remove one at a time without disturbing the rest. The original chopstick game and still a classic.

Pick-up sticks - Mikado in most of Europe - is the original stick game, and it works with chopsticks exactly as well as with the printed set. Drop the bundle, then remove them one at a time without disturbing any other.

How to do it

1. Gather 20 or more chopsticks.
2. Hold them upright in a loose bunch on a flat surface and let go, so they fall into a pile.
3. Take turns removing one stick at a time. If any other stick moves at all, your turn ends.
4. Play until the pile is gone. Most sticks wins, or most points if you have scored them.

Why it works

The pile is a chain of dependencies - each stick's position is held by the ones beneath it. The skill is reading which sticks are load-bearing and which are merely resting on top, which is why good players spend far longer looking than moving.

Tips & warnings

• Excellent for fine motor control and genuinely absorbing for adults, which is not true of many children's games.

Variations worth trying

• Score them: mark the ends with pen, five points for black, three for red, one for plain.
• Allow a 'helper' stick already claimed to be used as a lever for the rest.
• Play it as a co-operative game against the pile with younger children, rather than against each other.