The Power of a Snap Cube

A beautiful thing happened last week in my kindergarten class! During a round of afternoon centers, I noticed two little boys very carefully lining up snap cubes on either side of a table.

I asked them what they were doing, they replied, “We’re playing our new game.” I asked them to explain to me how to play their game. They told me the rules and told me they created it together. It’s a game they call Snap Cube War. They pick a color and line it up on either side of the table. They take turns placing their color cubes in the middle. The goal is to cross your opponent’s color line but you can only move when you “jump” over your opponent’s color cube.

After watching a round of Snap Cube War, I asked the boys some questions and listened to them negotiate rules to play the game. They boys decided they wanted to play this game again and again, and maybe some of their classmates would like to play it too, so they started writing a “How To” narrative together. Their first draft was quite impressive, we’re going to edit it together next week and put it in a format that other students can read and use.

Their game could have been inspired by another game they’ve played or observed, but their negotiations and rationalizations of rules and procedures were inspiring. I had to step back and remind myself, these little boys are 6 years old because their play was so advanced. They took something as ordinary as a snap cube, independently engaged in communication and creation to facilitate their own rich play experience. I hope this evidence encourages other teachers to let their children play, there are no limits to what their students can uncover and create.