NRICH: Board Blocklive

Take it in turns to make a triangle on the pegboard. Can you block your opponent?

Age 5 to 7

You can play this game for two players on the interactive pegboard, or on a real circular pegboard if you have one. Or you could print off sheets of circles from this page.

How to play:

Firstly, choose the number of pegs on your board.

Six might be a good choice to start with and you could print off this sheet of pegboards with six pegs if you are not using the interactivity.
Take it in turns to add a band to the board.
Bands must fit round three pegs, in other words, each must make a triangle.
A band can share a peg with other bands, but the triangles must not overlap (except along the edges and pegs).

A player loses when they cannot make a triangle on their turn.

Try playing, several times.

Did you find any good ways to win, in other words, any winning strategies? We would love to hear about them.

Once you’ve mastered this game, why not play to lose?
You might like to extend the game – have a look at this for a more challenging version.

 

Ages 5 to 7


Math Topics
Geometry, Problem-Solving
K-6
Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade

What are you looking for?

Organization

NRICH (University of Cambridge)

Website URL

Type of Resource

Board/Card Game
Online Game
Tutorial

Assigned Categories