Hound and Hares

To make a fun game for yourself or for a gift, you will need: 12″ square of heavy cardboard, 12 identical (size or color) buttons, 1 different button, paint, paintbrush, scissors, and pencil or pen.

Draw twenty-five circles on cardboard, in pattern shown, by tracing around an object such as a quarter or halfdollar. Paint game board. After it dries, arrange buttons in pattern shown. The different button is the hound, and the other buttons are the hares. Be sure to write down game rules and include them with your gift.

Rules One player controls all the hares; the other player, the hound. The hound moves first but may never return to the center space on the game board. If he does, he forfeits the game.

Hares and hound move one space in any direction. The hound may move two spaces if he is capturing a hare by jumping over it to an empty space. The hare is then removed from game board. The hound may capture only one hare during a turn.

The hares win the game if they corner the hound so that he cannot move; the hound wins if he captures seven hares or avoids being cornered for a certain length of time. We suggest three to five minutes. Older children may wish to play longer.