Skip to main content

Part of UT Health San Antonio

Teacher Enrichment Initiatives (TEI) - UT Health San AntonioTeacher Enrichment Initiatives (TEI) - UT Health San Antonio

Part of UT Health San Antonio

Support TEI
Menu
  • Free Activities (curriculum)
  • Teacher Enrichment Leadership Academy (TELA)
  • Home
  • About TEI
  • Teacher Resources
  • Blog

You are here

  • Home
  • Activity 1E: Knucklebones: A Game of Skill

Activity 1E: Knucklebones: A Game of Skill

Give each student a copy of instructions on how to make the "Knucklebone" game pieces. At least two games can be played with these game pieces. Discuss with the students the origin of the game.

Game 1

Knucklebones was a popular game of skill in ancient Greece for both children and adults. The game is very similar to the modern-day game of jacks, except that it is played without a ball. The Greeks used sun-bleached neck vertebrae (for example, the bones from a chicken neck) as the ball and playing pieces for the game. The object of the game is similar to jacks in that each player must toss one bone into the air, pick up the others, and then catch the first bone before it falls, all in one hand. Five to nine bones are used to play the game.

Game 2

Knucklebones was also a dice game played with only four bones. These sun-bleached vertebrae were called "Knucklebones." The pieces always had four flat sides plus two ends. The best throw - when each die landed differently - was called "Aphrodite," after the goddess of love and beauty. The worst throw - when they all landed alike - was called "the dog."

 

  • PDF icon Knucklebones Background Page and Game Rules 1E
Keywords: 

Culture, game, culture, Greek, specimen, bone, preparation

Activity Icon - %2
Activity Code: 
1E
Unit Reference: 
Give Your Bones A Break
Lesson Reference: 
Lesson 1: Cultural Representation of Skeletons and Bones
map

UT Health San Antonio
Teacher Enrichment Initiatives

7703 Floyd Curl Drive
San Antonio, TX 78229

210-450-1000

Stay connected

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

 

We make lives better ®

We're a part of UT Health San Antonio, provider of comprehensive health,  dental   and  cancer care,  advanced academics  and  life-saving research.

Teacher Enrichment Initiatives | The University of Texas Health Science Center | School of Medicine | Department of Medicine
Division of Geriatrics Barshop Institute | Web Policy | National Institutes of Health | National Institute on Aging
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Links provided from UTHSCSA pages to other web sites do not constitute or imply an endorsement of those sites, their content, or products and services associated with those sites. Its content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.