Konane: The Lost Game of Hawaiian Checkers
White coral in stark contrast to the black , volcanic shorelines.
The Hawaiian Islands are rich in tradition and culture. While many of the activities that people associate with Hawaii remain prevalent today (luaus, hula, lei) are still practiced today, many ancient Hawaiian customs were set aside (voluntarily and forcibly) during the British rule of Hawaii, forgotten by most.
One of these ancient customs is playing the game of Kōnane (koh-NAH-nee). It was invented by the ancient Hawaiian Polynesians long before the British set foot on the islands. It is sometimes called Hawaiian checkers. Traditionally, Kōnane would have been played on wooden boards using pieces of black lava rock and white coral as game pieces.
While set-up and play is fairly easy, to truly master the game, your ability to think critically and plan several moves ahead will definitely give you an advantage.
Here’s how to play:
Fill game board with black and white pieces in an alternating pattern.
Decide who will play each color.
Black removes one of its pieces from the game board. White the removes one of its pieces a space next to empty black space.
Black then jumps a white piece landing in an open space and removing the white piece from the board.
White then jumps a black piece landing in an open space and removing the black piece from the board.
Players take turns jumping. The player that is able to make the last move wins! (Insert picture of our game board)
Before we even started playing my youngest (the little competitor that he is!) had a few questions:
Are diagonal moves allowed? No, you can only move horizontally and vertically.
Can we double jump? Yes, as long as you do not change directions. No ‘L’ or butterfly moves like in chess or checkers.
Can you move outside of the squares? No, you cannot land outside of the board.
After all of his questions were answered, the boys sat down to play a few games. It moved fairly quickly once they got the hang of it. The first game they had trouble spotting their eligible moves, but by the second game they were pros! You can adjust the level of difficulty by starting with a 4x4 board (easier, faster) or trying an 8x8 or even 10x10 boards (harder, longer).
Kōnane in action!
Even though the number of chips collected has nothing do do with how to win the game of Kōnane,
the double jump moves were a favorite!
Be sure to note the boundary of your Kōnane game when using a chess or checkers board.
You don’t need a fancy game board to play this game-remember it was invented by the ancient Polynesian Hawaiians with no access to modern technology! You can easily set up a game on a chess or checker board and use the pieces from those games. You can also use dried beans, bingo chips or even cut out squares of paper as game pieces! The print-out we used is available on the Music Library Teachers Pay Teachers store.
(Insert checkers board) caption: be sure to note the boundary of your Kōnane game when using a checkers board.
Kōnan is a great game for encouraging little learners to think critically and it’s fun for adults too!
I’m so happy we discovered Kōnane-we’ll be playing non-stop for a while!
Here are some other fun resources we used while
learning about Hawaii!