🐍 Snakes and Ladders: rules for kids
Snakes and ladders (also called chutes and ladders) is an ancient dice game that even preschoolers can play: roll, count, climb and slide, all the way to square 100.
How to play Snakes and Ladders
What you need
A board with 100 squares plus snakes and ladders, one die, and a game piece for each player.
How to play
Everyone starts off the board. Take turns rolling the die and moving forward that many squares.
Land at the bottom of a ladder and you climb up it. Land on a snake's head and you slide down to its tail.
Roll a 6 and you get another turn (a common house rule you can skip).
How to win
The first player to land exactly on square 100 wins. If your roll is too high, move up to 100 and count back the rest.
Questions and answers
What do kids learn from snakes and ladders?
Counting, recognizing numbers up to 100, waiting their turn, and handling a loss, since everything depends on the roll of the die.
Do you need to land exactly on 100?
In the classic rules, yes: an overshoot bounces you back. For very young players you can drop that rule and let any roll that reaches 100 win.