World Culture Activity Video: Thailand

Play the traditional game of Len Choa!

Activity best for children age 5 and up

At San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum we love learning about different cultures found all around the world. Throughout the month of February we will be exploring Thailand and its cultures as part of our Roots Series sponsored by the Nissan Foundation, County of San Diego, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Today we are going to make a game board that makes you think about how and where you should move your pieces. This game of strategy is called Len Choa. In this traditional board game from Thailand, 1 tiger has to move against six leopards. Who will catch who when you play?

Materials You’ll Need:

White paper

Marker

6 of the same game pieces (can be from a checkers game, 6 pennies, or other small objects)

1 game piece (such as a bottle cap or a piece from a chess board)

Directions

STEP 1
Draw a large triangle on white paper. Draw a line down the middle so that the triangle has two halves.

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STEP 2
Choose one game piece that will be the “tiger.” Collect six other game pieces that will be the “jaguars.”

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STEP 3
Decide who will be the tiger and who will be the jaguar. You can take turns switching.

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STEP 4
The first player puts their game piece “the tiger” at the top of the triangle. The second player places his jaguar on one of the dots. The tiger then moves along the lines, one dot at a time, but he can’t take or jump over any of the jaguars until all 6 are on the board. When all 6 jaguars are on the board, then the tiger can jump over a jaguar if the dot on the opposite side of the jaguar on the same line is free (as in checkers). The jumped jaguar is removed from the board.

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STEP 5
Keep playing until the tiger is trapped and can no longer move or jump, or there are too few leopards to trap the tiger. Have fun!

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