The rules are very simple. Draw a grid on the board (I generally use a six by six square grid), mark out the start and finish squares, and draw a column of arrows up the side to show in which direction a particular row goes. Draw two snakes with their heads higher up the grid then their tails and two ladders in the grid. When a student lands on a square with the head of a snake they slide down to the end of the tail, when they land on a square with the base of a ladder they climb up the ladder to the top. Now all that's need is a die to determine how far a student moves in each turn.

One of the things I like to do to make the game more interesting is to put the head of a snake just before the finish and it's tail down near the start of the game. To win the game the student must land exactly on the finish square, if they go past it they must come back. For example, if a student needs to throw a two to win and they throw a three on the next turn they must throw a 3 to win.

My wife developed this variation. Draw a big wriggling snake on the board and mark lots of lines on it to make the player squares. Draw ladders between the loops of the snake to go forward and arrows to go back. She also likes to place a couple cards and stickers on the snake to make it more exciting for the kids.