Science & Life Skills

Learn about the Lenape people and how to make their traditional deer button game using beans and corn.

We learned about the Lenape people who lived in Pennsylvania and their deer button game, which used slices of antlers as dice.

We learned that the Lenape stained one side of their dice with charcoal and also used toe bones from animals as another type of dice.

We learned how to play the game using lima beans and corn, where players shake the beans and give corn pieces based on how many black beans show up.

We learned that games of chance helped the Lenape people during winter months when they spent more time inside, and they also played the moccasin game.

How to make and play the Native American deer button game