The Family Storybox – The Snake and Camel Hajj Game

The Snake and Camel Hajj Game is an innovation to the classic Snake and Ladder board game, incorporating Hajj elements into the game play.

Dice roll to move through the game in steps, the slithery “Snake” represents the danger of sliding back a few steps, while the “Camel” represents a gift of jumping ahead a few steps.

This game helps early learners to recognize the numbers they hear in their early life and uniting the written symbols with the meaning of the value this symbols represents. Early learners count each spot on the dice to find out what number they rolled, and recognizing the patters that make up each number. From recognizing numbers, playing this game repetitively will surely assist children learn counting strategies that form the basis of addition and substraction.

Most important innovation to the game play is the sequence and ritual of Hajj. Pillars and obligatories of Hajj such as Niyyah, Ihram, Tawaf, Wuquf and etc are the key to this game. Pillars and obligatories of Hajj are highlighted (so that they are easily known and remembered) as these are the “gift of jumping ahead few steps” in the game. Simillarly, the prohibition of Hajj and bad manners are also highlighted (so that they are known and be avoided) as these are the “sliding back few a few steps” in the game.
The best part of this integrated Islamic and Maths Game Board is that because it is a game involving competition of racing to attain Hajj Mabrur, learning about Pillars of Islam and skills in Maths sink in without anyone really noticing.

While playing this game, it is recommended for adults (parents or grandparents, or educators) to narrate their experience or knowledge about Hajj to early learners.
Be sure to have this “Snake and Camel” Game Board so you can play with your young ones knowing they will sure learn important fundamentals of Maths and Pillars of Islam!