Ancient Number

Objectives

Table Games | Party Games | Riddles

Group Size

Small

Materials

Several pieces of silverware or short wooden sticks (e.g. matchsticks)

Set Up

None

Directions

Tell members of the group that you are going to use sticks/silverware/etc. to recreate an ancient number system. It is their goal to figure out how the system works. Place several sticks or pieces of silverware in a formation on the table. Unknown to the participants, the number will always be the number of fingers you have placed discretely on the table. If a participant thinks he or she knows the pattern, ask him of her or to give an example rather than stating the answer so that other participants can continue to play.