Hubbub is a game that was played by Eastern Woodland tribes who lived many years ago in what is now southeastern New England. However, many variations of this game exist with tribes across North America. In each place, the game had its own name, its own scoring system, and different items were used as game pieces. Kids nowadays can play this game at home or in school.
Materials for a Kids’ Game
- Make one game set for every two players. Below is an option for using one set with a group, at which point this becomes a cooperative play game. Some Native American people used bone from antlers, plum pits, or river rocks to make the dice for this game. Kids can use plastic milk bottle caps or flat rocks no bigger than their thumb. You will need five similar objects.
- Permanent marking pen
- Small basket (without a handle), wood bowl, or even a plastic margarine tub
- 50 craft sticks for keeping count of the score
- Index card for writing down the scoring system
- On one side of the caps or rocks draw a simple design. You can draw stars on three caps and X’s on two caps or you can make the same design on all five caps or rocks. If you make the same design, the scoring system is simpler.
- Place the caps or rocks in the basket. You can either toss them a few inches into the air so they fall on the ground or so they fall back into the basket. In the game hubbub, “hub, hub, hub” was shouted as the objects were tossed into the air. (Remind kids to toss the rocks just enough so the bounce out of the basket. It isn’t necessary to throw the dice over the height of the players. This could cause an injury and will disqualify a player.
- Players go back and forth, taking or returning craft sticks and setting them beside them to keep points.
If you used the same design on one side of all the rocks, use this simple scoring system.
- 5 of the same (either all blank or all decorated sides facing up) – gain 2 points
- 4 of one and 1 of the other (4 decorated/1undecorated or 4 undecorated/1 decorated) – lose 1 point
- 2 of one and 3 of the other – gain 1 point
If you followed the pattern of three stars and two X’s, then use this system as described by Laurie Carlson in More than Moccasins, Chicago Review Press, 1994.
- 1 of either – 0 points
- 2 X’s – 3 points
- 3 stars and 2 blanks – 3 points
- 2 X’s and 3 blanks – 3 points
- 4 marked sides up – 1 point
- 5 blank sides up – 1 point
- 5 marked sides up – 8 points
- Of course, kids can create whatever point system they would like.
Kids and their families can play the game Hubbub during Thanksgiving or at any time of the year. In school, this game could supplement a lesson on the Eastern Woodland tribes. If you are playing the game with a group, continue to pass the basket of game pieces around the table and count communal points for the group. You can play as many rounds of this game as you’d like.
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