Dominoes - Building Character

Kids love to play dominoes, and Play-2-Learn Dominoes® is a new line of educational games that puts the fun of playing dominoes to work by helping kids learn important skills. 

Play-2-Learn Dominoes® Building Character is an educational game, developed to teach young people how to learn to differentiate between actions that demonstrate good character and actions that demonstrate bad character.  Players also learn to identify five important dimensions of good character: respect, caring, fairness, honesty, and responsibility.  Each card contains a short scenario.  Players must decide if the actions in the scenario represent good or bad character.  If they decide it is bad character, players say what the person should have done instead.  The game, through its use of one hundred concrete examples, takes the concept of character from an abstract concept to practical guidelines for living by the code of good character.  At the facilitator’s discretion, players can also try to identify the relevant dimension of character. 

Most people display bad character not because they are bad people, but because they have made bad choices.  The boy who doesn't clean his room because he wants to go out and play with friends is a typical example.  Many of the cards that show bad character contain rationalizations, helping students see that these rationalisations do not excuse bad character.

The game comes with a set of dominoes and four decks of cards.  The rules parallel those of a standard domino game with one exception: Players must answer a question about character before placing a domino.

There are two shades of each colour card.  For example, half the School Cards are a darker shade of blue, and half are lighter.  The darker cards are for younger players, and the lighter cards are for older players.  You can use all the cards or just one shade based on the age and social awareness of the players.

Playing time:  Flexible from 30 minutes–45 minutes        Players:  2–5

Suitable for 6-12 yrs.

Learning Objectives

Players will:

1. Understand the concept of character and five important and desirable character traits.

2. Gain experience making decisions about choices that involve good and bad character.

3. Practice developing alternatives to behaviours that demonstrate bad character.

4. Learn that character is judged by a person's actions, not by the person's claims of good character.

5. Develop an understanding of why parents, school officials, and other adults can be expected to hold students responsible for dishonesty and other examples of bad character.