What to do with scraps

I have a lot of scrap pieces of wood sitting around.  Not big enough for spoons, too big to throw away.  The only thing I can do is burn them, which is lame when you live in a warm climate and never build fires.  But I was in my favorite store, Bookmans, looking at chess books, and I saw a book about games.  And there, in the book, was the perfect idea for turning those scraps into something cool.

Have you ever heard of spellicans?  Neither had I.  Apparently, it was a parlor game in the Victorian age.  It's like pick-up sticks, but the pieces are cool shapes, and you get different points for different shapes.  Here are some pictures from the internet.

They were carved from bone or ivory.  Pretty elaborate and fancy.  You can't tell from the pictures, but those pieces are only about 4 inches tall.

So I figured I could make a similar game with my scraps, but not quite so delicate and fancy.  Here is my attempt.

The pieces are all about 5 to 6 inches long.  The kids have played the game 3 or 4 times in the two days since I made them, and the pieces work well.  Of course, I have another 10 pieces started already, so the set will be bigger soon.  It may prove to be an addictive way to deal with scrap wood.