Life-Size Candy Land

In Candy Land, anyone can win at any time. As you move your little person through the path, you might think you’re about to win as you get near the end. But if you draw a card for a candy near the beginning, suddenly you’re sent all the way back. What if you got to walk up and down a real, life-sized path like that? Some people actually did! When the game Candy Land turned 60 years old in 2009, people made a giant Candy Land board on San Francisco’s Lombard Street, also known as “the crooked street.” Groups of kids dressed in their team’s colors ran down the street when it was their move. We hope they ate some giant candy along the way, too.

Wee ones: If the squares in Candy Land are red, purple, yellow, blue, orange, and green, how many colors do they use?

Little kids: If you move 2 squares ahead on your first turn, then 5 squares ahead on your next, how many squares do you move in total?  Bonus: If 3 teams of 10 kids play on this giant board, how would you count up those kids by 10s?

Big kids: If Candy Land was 60 years old in August 2009, how old is Candy Land today in 2018?  Bonus: If the section of street used was 600 feet long and each square was 20 feet long, how many squares long was the path? (Hint: To divide by 20, you’re dividing by 2, then by 10).

The sky’s the limit: The colored squares in Candy Land are in the order red, purple, yellow, blue, orange, green (6 colors). If the board starts on red and repeats this order, what color is the 59th square? (Assume there are no candy spaces in the way.) What do you think could be the fastest way to figure this out?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers:
Wee ones: 6 colors.

Little kids: 7 squares.  Bonus: 10, 20, 30.

Big kids: 69 years old.  Bonus: 30 squares.

The sky’s the limit: The 59th square is orange, because 60 is a full set of 6, and therefore the 60th  square, which follows the 59th, is green.

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