'The game of rings should be considered for all schools throughout the world as a brilliant teaching aid.' -The World Ringboard Academy. Ringboards are excellent tools for... -Developing organizational skills- The class could be allowed to organize and run its own tournaments. -Practicing mental arithmetic- The rules of ringboard necessitate quick mental arithmetic and hand to eye co-ordination, while promoting safe fun. -Improving skill and competitiveness- Each class could run a mini-tournament to find the best player. Then perhaps each class could pick a team of their six best players to play the other classes. On sports day tournaments could be organized to find the best player in the school. Also, tournaments could be organised between schools. It was recommended recently in the UK that schools introduce dartboards to help pupils with mental arithmetic skills, but a far better game for this purpose is the traditional Irish game of Rings. Players must stand a certain distance from the board when throwing rings, and the ringboard itself must hang at a certain height. World Ringboard Academy rules call for a distance of 259cm and a height of 178cm to the base of the 13 hook. However, we feel that for children up to the age of 9 an approximate distance of 170cm and height of 140cm are more suitable. Up to the age of 13, a distance of 200cm and a height of 160cm should provide a good challenge. There are three Ringboard games in particular that are very suitable for schools: 1. Beginners - The highest score after each player has thrown 3 sets of rings wins the game. 2. Fifty Plus - The first player to reach or exceed a pre-agreed number [e.g.50] wins the game. 3. Thirty-one - The first player to reach a score of 31 using as few rings as possible, e.g. if a player hooks a 10 then a 9 he must add these together to get his total score so far (19) and subtract this from 31 to find which number he must hook to win (12). If he hangs no.5 he must subtract this from 12 and now he knows he must hang no.7 to win, thereby getting the player quickly using mental arithmetic. As skills levels develop and increase players can move on to the more traditional games of 'Round the Clock' (hang each number in sequence, from 1 to 13) and '100 + 1' (players must reach 100 points, then hang the no. 1 to win. This could eventually lead to competing in the All Ireland Ringboard Championships, which are held annually in Co. Clare, All England Ringboard Championships or even the World Ringboard Championships, usually held in the autumn. Board comes with Hooks and 6 Rings. School Size Ringboard measurements: 38.5cm x 30cm