Kids love to crack codes, and its fun to use our brains. Here’s an easy to learn code cracking game that some schools are using to teach logical thought processes. I’ve even seen questions based on this game on middle school tests. The game is called Cows and Bulls. It’s similar to Mastermind, but you don’t have to buy anything to play it. You can play on a white board, or just a piece of paper. You need at least two people, but you play on teams or play cooperatively.
One player thinks of a four digit number without zeros. All the digits should be different, no repeats. It helps to write down the number secretly. Then the other player or players tries to guess the number. Any number that is in the right position is a “bull”. Any number that is in the secret number but in the wrong place is a “cow”.
Let’s say the secret number is 1234. Another player guesses 1356. So the “1” is in the right place. There is a three in the number, but it’s in the wrong place. The guesser would be told that he got “one bull and one cow”. The next guess might be 5678. The player would be told they have “0 cows and 0 bulls”. That would tell them that the numbers 5, 6, 7, and 8 are not included in the secret number. Therefore the correct digits must be 1, 2, 3, 4, or 9. The next guess might be 1235. For that guess the player would get “three bulls”. They would know they got three numbers in the right place and need to figure out which number is not included in the secret number.
To vary the game, you can play with three or five digit numbers. The game is much harder that way, but a good challenge for very logically minded children.
This makes a good game for waiting since all you need is a pen, paper, and your brains.
Also See:
Family Fun: Word Games and Palindromes