Kotsuku Tournaments
I recently noticed a note in my kids' school newsletter asking for rainy day game ideas that the school could implement during lunchtime recess. You would think that schools in Seattle would have a deeper reserve of rainy day activties than just about any place on the planet short of the Amazon. But the reality is that keeping kids occupied is a moving target, especially in the digital age.

It took me a few minutes for me to realize that, for once, the school could actually benefit from my current profession. This was certainly never the case when I was selling adhesives and cleaning solvents. But games? You bet I can help with games!

It didn't take too much thought for me to realize that Kotsuku was the game that I should use to help the soggy, cafeteria-bound kiddies. - Even though, I think there are many more lessons to be learned by playing Letter Hold 'em poker. But I don't think the board of Ed will be endorsing a poker game anytime soon. - Kotsuku has a perfect combination of qualities for entertaining the kiddies; The rules are simple; Games can be played in 5 minutes or less; Equipment requirments and set up time are minimal; and finally, the skills necessary for winning are all school-friendly, including spelling, vocabulary and spatial thinking.

Materials
A Kotsuku Tourney can be conducted with as little as a pad of paper and a pencil, but ideally a white or black board is used to allow others to watch the action from a distance. The board should be fitted with a 5 space x 5 space grid with each individual space measuring roughly 6 inches in each direction.

Game Play
Each game starts with a seed word of three letters (e.g. ray, dot, bug, etc.) with the letters scattered around the grid, which can be chosen by the players or possibly a teacher who officiates the match. Players then take turns writing letters in the grid in an attempt to be the first to complete a word of there letters or more. Each letter in the alphabet can only be used once and a winning word can be completed in any direction, frontward or backwards.

The games move fast and players can cycle in and out in the same manner as pickup basketball, with the winner of each game staying on to play a new challenger. If an overall champion is to be decided, points can be awarded for wins (5) and ties (1) and tallied to declare a champ.