The purse for the tetradice

Introduction

The PURSE is an element that is included in the game of the TETRADICE. This element can be introduced when the children have played with different bases and have enough experience to play with hexadecimal code.

The buttons and the inner slots of the pieces will be used and the children will play with these values. On the diagram is presented a chart of the values and their bases.

First level

Preparation

Build a board table for a TETRADICE game. In this level of evolution children should play using a board table of 10 possibilities.

Prepare yellow chips with yellow, green, blue and red internal buttons.

Procedure

  1. Play as the dealer and give out 3 yellow chips, with yellow, green, blue and red internal buttons, to each child.
  2. Wait for the children to deduce what value is being delivered.
  3. Ask: What am I delivering?.
  4. To help out, if the children are not able to answer, take a green button, and say: Here is a green one. The children should understand they have received four pieces inside one.
  5. This is a yellow purse, I keep here my pieces. I could take out the red button and I have in my purse a blue piece, a green piece and a yellow piece.
  6. Begin a game of TETRADICE. The dealer will pay double to the winning bets.
  7. The adult/dealer makes sure this new element has been understood and then steps back.

Second level

Preparation

Prepare green chips with yellow, green, blue and red internal buttons, and one green chip with one yellow button.

Procedure

  1. Play as the dealer and put on the board green chips with yellow, green, blue and red internal buttons, in addition to the chips you are already using.
  2. Show the yellow purse with one yellow button and the green purse with one yellow button. Ask: How many yellow purses is one green purse?.
  3. This green purse makes the little pieces inside be worth 16 times their value.
  4. Play having the children insert different combinations of colors.
  5. Give 5 green pieces with yellow, green, blue and red internal buttons to each child.

Children should have played for longer than three years with these games and should be used to the challenges, play with them and then step back.

Third level

Do the previous procedure but using blue chips. In this level, children should be able to anticipate this new element. Always show the purses on sequence so they can identify the positional value. Let the children play in this level for enough time.

Fourth level

Do the previous procedure, but using the red purse.

Using only one piece, the red one with internal buttons, children will be counting up to 61,440 in decimal system.

Fifth level

Challenge the children to deduce the positional value in zero.

  1. Show the series of known purses, leaving one of them without internal buttons.
  2. Ask the child: How much is worth this button less blue purse? The child might answer: it is an empty purse, it is worth nothing.
  3. Reinforce this by saying: Yes, it is worth zero, but this is its place, its position.
  4. Play with the child using series of yellow, green, blue and red purse and challenge the child to determine the values of the series.