Domino is a game with an interesting history. People have used dominoes for centuries to create structures and games, from simple lines to elaborate displays. Today’s Wonder of the Day looks at how Hevesh, a professional domino artist, uses her skills to create impressive displays that show off the power of this popular game.
Hevesh began her domino journey as a child when she was introduced to the game by her father. By her teens, she was creating large domino displays for parties and movie premieres. She has now worked on projects involving over 300,000 dominoes and has helped set the Guinness World Record for the largest number of dominoes in a circular arrangement. Her work has even been featured on television shows and in movies. Hevesh has a popular YouTube channel where she shares her domino creations with the world.
A domino is a tile with a square face marked with an arrangement of spots, or pips, and a blank or identically patterned back. A domino is normally twice as long as it is wide, and the pips on each end mark its value, from the highest (double-nine) to the lowest (zero). Historically, sets were made of bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory, or a dark hardwood such as ebony, with contrasting black or white pips. More recently, set materials have included plastic, metal, and wood veneers.
Most dominoes are made of molded or drilled polymer material, although some are still hand-crafted from natural materials such as bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell, ivory, or ebony. Dominoes have a very distinct look, and natural-material sets can be more durable than their polymer counterparts. They also tend to be heavier in weight and have a more solid feel.
One of the most popular uses for dominoes is as a learning tool. Many children’s toys teach the concept of a domino effect, with one small movement impacting the whole. Dominoes can be used to demonstrate this idea in the classroom, and they can be used to teach students about how they should behave in a group or class.
In addition to teaching the concept of a domino effect, dominoes can help students practice basic counting and mathematical skills. Students can also use them to explore the concepts of patterning and geometry. For example, students can use dominoes to build patterns or shapes and then knock them over to see how their structure changes.
A common game with dominoes involves drawing seven tiles from the boneyard, and then placing them in a line to begin play. The player who plays the highest double or the highest domino in their hand starts the game, and each successive player must play a piece that adds to the total of the previous domino. The first player to complete their dominoes wins the game.