Learning about periods in middle school was pretty much the most awkward thing ever. (I’ll never forget when my health teacher made us watch a video of girls eating vagina-shaped pancakes at a sleepover.) The reality is many women (and men!) are pretty uninformed about menstruation, and making girls feel like it’s a gross topic isn’t helping.
That’s what makes The Period Game so great. Dreamed up by two students at The Rhode Island School of Design, the board game uses classic Monopoly features (plus a giant 3-D uterus) to teach about menstruation:
Players start the game by rolling the dice rotating the giant uterus, which releases a marble. Red ones represent your period, while clear marbles signify any other day. As you move around the board, you collect protection cards (like “tampon”) and preparation cards (like “take a hot bath!”). Plus, the game also comes with instruction packets labeled “Wait, really?” that give players more info on periods.
Unfortunately, the game isn’t available yet. The creators are currently shopping it around to toy makers. When it does appear on shelves, it won’t be just for kids. All of us could use a fun, casual way to talk about periods. Because, you know, saying the word “tampon” out loud won’t kill you.
