Playing Mancala

For my 6 year old's birthday last month she received the board game Mancala from her grandparents.  This was a great gift as it's an easy game to learn how to play but a game that also contains a great deal of strategy.

The basic idea of the game is to get more stones on your side of the board than your opponent.  Simple, right?  Yes, but to win you need to imply a great deal of strategy.  Therefore this is a game that promotes the use of critical thinking skills.  

I alternated between playing against my 6 year old and 9 year old for a few games.  When playing my 9 year old I played to win.  Yet I lost both times.  Hmmm.  Looks like I'm a bit rusty and need to use my own critical thinking skills!