Back in my day, kids learned about periods the old fashioned way: By being shoved into a gender-segregated classroom with the lights off and forced to watch a cartoon about deodorant, new hair growth, and monthly bleeding. But this is 2016, and ladies no longer need to hide in dark classrooms to learn about the joys of sanitary napkins and the maze that is the fallopian tubes. Champion swimmers talk about their periods on international television, and marathon runners let their blood flow freely down their legs as they cross the finish line.
Now you can learn about menarche with a spin of the ovaries. Designers Daniela Gilsanz and Ryan Murphy created the Period Board Game in a Rhode Island School of Design class to turn the awkwardness of menstruation education into a fun experience.
To play, you just have to turn one of the two ovaries, releasing a marble that’s either red or clear. If it’s red, you’re on your period, and you get to move forward on the game board. If it’s clear, sorry, you’ve just learned about vaginal discharge.
You can play cards that protect you from period woes like leaks and PMS, or end up without a tampon headed for the nurse’s office to sit out your next turn. The first person to get around the board—past ovulation, periods, and PMS—wins.
Will this actually turn talking about periods with young girls into a fun, positive experience? Maybe. It at least forces kids to say the word tampon a few times, although without a doubt, kids will find a way to find the whole situation mortifying regardless. But hey, every child should have to confront the realities of ovulation at some point. Plus, it’s so cute!
The game doesn’t have a distributor yet, since it was a student project, but hopefully some company will pick it up and put one in every kid’s hands soon enough.
See it in action in the video below:
The Period Game from Daniela Gilsanz on Vimeo.
All images courtesy The Period Game.
September 18, 2016 – 8:00am