'LUDO'.... 'AYO/NCHOROKOTO' - Family Bonding & Fond Memories!

Playing traditional home games is a form of education that builds skills and encourages family bonding. 'Ludo' and 'Ayo' or 'Nchorokoto' were such games we shared in my family.

Ludo is a board game for two to four players, in which the players race their four tokens from start to finish according to dice rolls. It is simple.

I'll refresh your minds on how its played. You choose a color and place your playing pieces in the starting section for your color. There is no advantage or disadvantage to choosing one color over another (but everyone has their own favorite color; mine was yellow and green). Roll the die to see who goes first. The highest number wins the advantage to start. The first to get all their playing pieces home wins. Pieces from the Ludo game are small and can be choking hazards for younger children. It's a good idea to keep them out of reach of those that are under four years of age.  This game was originally designed for children but is popular among adults and children in Nigeria. Skills learnt include dice rolling and right movement.

Ayo/Nchorokoto was another one for us. I wasn't so great at it but I did my best. It is played by two people, facing each other, over two rows of six pockets, or holes in the ground. Each player places four seeds or stones in each of their six pockets and the players then take turns of picking up all of the pieces from one of the pockets and dropping one of them into another pocket one by one. The first player to empty all of the other player’s pockets wins the game. Ayo is an important 'mind sport game'. It has been known to help sharpen math skills.

These two games still gives me fond memories and I can't wait to share them with my kids. The skills learnt and type of family bonding it creates is one of those that's worth passing on to my next generation.