Kerplunk

So far, we’ve covered games that implement basic game play etiquette and dabble in reasoning and logic. Let’s up the ante to one that requires a bit of strategy and fine motor precision. Say hello to Kerplunk.

Game Name: Kerplunk
Debut: 1967
Age Range: 5 years and up

Objective: To keep as many marbles as possible from falling while removing sticks out of the tube

As Kerplunk’s packaging states, “Pick a colored stick and give it a soft tug. With steady nerves, a little skill and a bit of luck, you can keep a lot of balls from going Kerplunk!”

Kerplunk is a product of its time. The game made its debut in 1967 after toy inventor Eddy Goldfarb sold his creation to the Ideal Toy Company. Despite its typical origin story, its era marked significant changes in the toy industry. Child psychologists at the time were studying the relationship of how toys impacted children’s early development. By the late 1960s, they advocated for toy manufacturers to produce toys that positively educated children. Additionally, new rules and regulations restricted the types of materials used in making toys (so long lead paint!).

The ’60s also brought on futuristic and sci-fi trends (remember the Jetsons?) which influenced toy manufacturers to come up with unusual and interesting products for their child consumers. This gave rise to creations like the Spirograph, Etch-a-Sketch, Twister, and Kerplunk.

Unlike a traditional board game, Kerplunk had a 3D design with colorful plastic parts. The name pays homage to the loud noise of the marbles hitting the hard plastic as they fall to the bottom of the tube. Because of the dexterous skills involved, players also experience a mix of anticipation and suspense as they carefully remove a stick from the tube, hoping not to drop the ball, or marbles in this case.

Gameplay

Assemble the game by inserting the sticks into the holes in the tube and then placing the tube onto its base.
Pour the marbles into the top of the tube, allowing them to settle among the sticks.
Players take turns removing one stick at a time from the tube without letting any marbles fall.
The game continues until all the sticks have been removed and all the marbles have fallen to the base of the tube.
The player with the fewest amount of marbles in their tray wins.

Skills Tested

Of course, a game rooted in testing one’s skills will also address other abilities, like:

Attention and focus (arousal level)
Social participation (turn taking, patience, and impulse control)
Fine motor skills (precision, finger dexterity, coordination, control)
Sensory processing (feeling the slight pressure when choosing which stick to pull, the sound of the marbles, watching the marbles fall)
Cognitive skills (critical thinking and problem solving)
Visual perception (visual discrimination, figure-ground, visual closure when choosing the appropriate stick to pull)
Visual motor skills (hand-eye coordination)
Emotional regulation (choosing the wrong stick, an unexpected outcome, or losing the game)

Modifications

Kerplunk is a pretty straightforward and fun game to play at any age (even toddlers like pulling a stick out just to hear and see the marbles fall). A kid could win this game just as easily as an adult. But, here are some ways to change it up:

For little ones, set the game up before they play. Abandon the winner/loser idea and let them pull the sticks to understand cause and effect.
To address visual and fine motor skills needed for handwriting, have your child set up the game by threading all the sticks through the tube.
To relieve some stress or excess energy, incorporate movement into the game. Each time they pull a stick and marbles come out, have them do a quick exercise (like jumping jacks or running in place).
If the marbles are a bit too much noise, you can switch them out with craft pom poms or larger water beads.
Instead of marbles, use jellybeans and reverse the objective (the winner is the player who has the most candy in their tray) to make it a fun treat.
Make a giant-sized Kerplunk to get the whole body involved in the gameplay. You can find how a lot of DIYs onli n e.