Hi Mike,
Please call me Lynne! This is such a friendly forum!
I have described using the lukasa in detail on this forum somewhere, but I am on the move and using a tablet and I can’t seem to find it. But you have Memory Craft coming and that describes the process very thoroughly - I think! If not, please ask more here.
I didn’t have different beads for each bird family. My first lukasa has a bead or group of beads for each family and then I use stories for the species in the families. The position on the board in terms of location and surrounding beads gives plenty of difference. I used about 6 different bead types and two different sized cowrie shells.
I didn’t design that lukasa with the bird families in mind. It worked a treat, but would have been better had I designed it according to the intended data. I did that with my second one, as described in Memory Craft, and the design phase plus the logical layout made it even easier!
Have fun with your lukasa. I love them. If you get a chance, I’d love to know how it goes.
Lynne