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Best friends: Sasha and Fly the dog take it in turns to roll the dice
Snakes and ladders
Update by news editor   22-11-2011

Dog beats girl at snakes and ladders

Video clip of schoolgirl and pet playing board game is internet hit

A video of a Scottish schoolgirl playing a board game with her pet dog has become a massive internet hit.

The clip of eight-year-old Sasha Clement and her collie Fly playing snakes and ladders has been viewed more than 140,000 times on YouTube.

In the video, Sasha and Fly take turns to roll the dice, while the girl moves the pieces.

Fly appears to be watching the game intently and patiently waits for his turn. He rolls the dice by lifting it in his mouth and dropping it again.

And in a surprising twist, the dog actually wins the game!

Sasha's father filmed the game and posted it on YouTube earlier this year.

Mrs Clement said they had not planned or practised anything in the clip and were amazed when the dog started playing along.

The clip has become so popular that an American advertising company has bought it from the Clements.

It is not known how much the video was sold for, but Sasha should be confident of having a good Christmas - YouTube also pays contributors 60p for every 1,000 views their clip gets.

 

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Dog beats girl at snakes and ladders

Be board not bored this Christmas!

A YouTube clip of a schoolgirl playing snakes and ladders with her dog has become such a hit that a US company has paid her family to be able to use it in an advert.

What is it that is so interesting about this story - the fact that the dog wins? Or that the Clements are set to make a fortune? Or is it a strangely sad sight to see a child having to resort to her pet as an opponent in a family game?

In our digital age, board games are often left languishing in cupboards while families find their entertainment online, on interactive TV or with consoles like the Nintendo Wii.

A new game that is a cross between a traditional board game and a mobile application was launched this week that could change all that. The App-Player uses a board but replaces traditional playing cards with an iPhone or Android device, allowing the makers to update and add questions.

Is it the end for traditional games? Here's a round-up of some classics you might want to dig out in time for the Christmas holidays.

Snakes and ladders
This much-loved children's game is totally dependent on luck, requiring no skills at all except the ability to roll a dice, as demonstrated by Fly the dog. According to some theories, it dates back in its most basic form to the second century BC.

Monopoly
A game that appeals to the inner banker in us all. It was patented in 1935 by an unemployed American called Charles Darrow - though there is doubt over whether he actually invented it - and has since been played by an estimated 750 million people worldwide.

Jenga
Invented in its modern form in the 1970s, Jenga involves players removing bricks from a tower without allowing it to collapse. The last person to remove a brick without knocking the tower down is the winner.

Battleship
The aim of Battleship, invented in 1943, is to find and sink your enemy's fleet. On one grid, each player arranges their fleet in secret; on another, they record the location of their opponent's ships and the shots they have fired. A simple but cunning guessing game.

Risk
The aim here is simple: world domination. Each player is awarded an army and a number of territories; they then decide how best to risk their assets as they launch attacks and defend their continents.

Connect 4
A fast and furious children's game dating from the 1970s, which parents couldn't keep their hands off. It involves dropping coloured counters into a grid to form a straight line of four in a row.

Ker-Plunk
A 1960s classic, good for the steady-handed. The set-up is simple: marbles sitting on top of a mass of sticks. Each player has to remove the sticks without the marbles dropping.

Operation
Another one dating from the 1960s. Players select cards that tell them which operation to perform; each one completed without setting off the buzzer is rewarded.

 

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adapted from article by Jody Harrison

Experiences & Outcomes

  • I can use evidence selectively to research current social, political or economic issues. SOC 2-15a
  • I can use my knowledge of current social, political or economic issues to interpret evidence and present an informed view. SOC 3-15a
  • I can evaluate conflicting sources of evidence to sustain a line of argument. SOC 4-15a