Blog

In the 1970s, Howard Wexler and Ned Strongin teamed up to create a new game. They wanted a game that was easy to understand but challenging to master. This was the beginning of Connect 4.

Fast forward to 2022 … Aaron School’s third grader, Asher, envisioned a school-wide tournament that would involve both the upper and lower school at 45th Street. Asher recruited his classmate Tyson to help come up with a game that would be fun yet flexible enough for students from kindergarten to 7th grade. Together, Asher and Tyson approached Ms. Fried to share their idea, and that was the start of the March Madness Connect Four tournament at Aaron School 45th Street.

Now in its third year, the Connect Four tournament has become an annual event. The competition is fierce but friendly. Here’s how the tournament works: each class is given a bracket to compete against their classmates. Players face off in a best-of-three format, and a winner is decided. The winners move up the bracket until a classroom champion is crowned. Then, each classroom champion competes against others in a single elimination round to determine the ultimate Connect Four champion.

The tournament has been a huge success at Aaron School, embodying many of our core values, including good sportsmanship, social skills, executive function, and more. It also helps develop visual perceptual skills, fine motor skills, and motor planning. The competition is in full swing, and the classroom champions will be determined this week. We encourage all students to support their classroom champions as we head into the final bracket.