Mancala was my first choice for our indoor toys series, but the pieces are often shiny, throat-sized pebbles. So be forewarned... Mancala is actually a family of strategy games - played for thousands of years throughout Africa and Asia. Ancient Egyptians were entombed with boards so they could play in the afterlife. Also known as Bao, Aware, Omweso and dozens of other names, mancalas have lots of different boards and rules, but in the U.S. you'll usually see a variation of the board above. You play by picking up and transferring the stones from hole to hole (mancala means "to transfer" in Arabic).

You can make your own mancala board with an egg carton and pebbles, seeds or paperclips. And there are lots of versions on amazon for $7.99 and up. My kids started playing it when they were around 4, and they'll probably still be playing it in the afterlife.