November Calendar Corner

November brings with it the quiet end of Autumn and the first signs of Winter (at least here in Oklahoma). I feel like November often gets forgotten in the shuffle between Halloween and Christmas and we try to keep fall decor and activities going through the month (and then let Christmas shine during the month of December). Here are some fun celebrations that you might enjoy incorporating into your November plans. I've added in the birthdays of artists for this month as well. Our Club has started the Art Feeds program and we're incorporating an Artist Spotlight in our Studio space.

Club-Centric Events
KidsGiving Gala - November 14
Thanksgiving Break - November 25-27

Monthly Celebrations
American Indian Heritage Month
Aviation History Month
Family Stories Month

Weekly Celebrations
National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week - November 6-12
National Chemistry Week - Second Full Week
National Children's Book Week - Third Full Week

Daily Celebrations
November 1 - Dia de los Muertos
November 1 - National Author's Day
November 3 - Daylight Savings Time Ends
November 4 - King Tut Day
November 5 - Guy Fawkes Day
November 9 - Berlin Wall Day
November 10 - International Tongue Twister Day
November 11 - Veterans' Day
November 13 - World Kindness Day
November 15 - American Recycles Day
November 16 - Oklahoma Statehood Day
November 17 - Homemade Bread Day
November 20 - Universal Children's Day
November 21 - World Hello Day
November 24 - Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day
November 28 - Thanksgiving

Artist Spotlights
November 12 - Auguste Rodin
November 14 - Claude Monet
November 15 - Georgia O'Keeffe

How do you celebrate November? Do you have cool ideas to share? Let me know!

Stick Dice Game for Native American Heritage Month

One of the special things about our Club is that we are part of the Native Services program. One of the special things about our Native Club is that we don't just have one or two tribes represented by our members. We have nine major tribes in our area, but currently we have nineteen different tribes represented by our membership enrollment. I think that's phenomenal! As a result of having such a diverse background within our youth, I strive to provide program resources for tribes all across our nation. This activity is from the Pomo Indians of California and is called Stick Dice. I've done some research and there are lots of variations of Stick Dice from tribes across the country. We chose this adaptation because it was one of the most simple to explain.

The Pomo nation was well known for their intricate basket weaving techniques. These baskets were used for trade both inside and outside of their culture. Basket weaving patterns were used to create the varied designs used on stick dice.

The original stick dice designs were created using burned etching, we opted to make our designs using markers for safety and practicality.

A group of our older members decorated several sets of sticks for our younger members to use. The game is very simple once you get the hang of it, and because there are counter beans, it's easy enough for the youngest members of our club to play without adaptation.

To play: Divide your group into pair. Each pair gets one set of stick dice (which has six sticks and 12 counting beans). Players take turns tossing their stick dice onto the ground (we had the kids sit in small groups on the floor so that they didn't get as wild with the throwing). When players throw the dice they say this chant: “Hey, chin-amah, Ho chin-a-mah, Hoya, Hoya, Hey!”

To score: Different combination will score different point values. At the start of the game, the beans should be in a pile on the ground. The players collect beans from the pile based on their points from each throw of the dice until the pile is used up and then they collect the beans from the pile of the other player. The first player who has all 12 counting beans is the winner.

Scoring the Throws: This is actually the part I like best about this version. There aren't a lot of complicated scoring rules so it makes game play possible for a wide range of ages.



If a player's throw results in all 6 blank side up stick dice, they get 2 points.

If a player's throw results in all six decorated side up dice, they get 3 points.

If a player's throw results in 3 blank side up and 3 painted side up stick dice, they get 1 point.

Any other combination of stick dice for a throw results in 0 points.

We played this game during one of our all day sessions in November and the kids loved it. This will definitely come out again during games time. How are your Clubs or organizations celebrating Native American Heritage Month? Let me know!