Summary

Game name (and type): 'Bear' (hiding game)
Alternative types: chasing game, running game

Handwritten description of the hiding game 'Bear' composed for Dr Dorothy Howard by Marion Chapman, presumably a student at Cherry Gardens School, on 7 March 1955. According to Chapman, 'Bear' is played by girls and boys. To play, one child is elected the 'bear'. While the 'bear' hides, the other children count to fifty at the 'home' base, located at a wall or tree, before proceeding to find the bear's hiding place. If discovered, the 'bear' tries to catch the children before they reach the safety of 'home'.

One of a collection of letters describing a children's games written to children's Folklorist Dorothy Howard between 1954 and 1955. Dr Howard came to Australia in 1954-55 as an American Fulbright scholar to study Australian children's folklore. She travelled across Australia for 10 months collecting children's playground rhymes, games, play artefacts, etc. This letter, together with the other original fieldwork collected by Dr Howard during this period, is preserved in the Dorothy Howard Collection manuscript files, part of the Australian Children's Folklore Collection (ACFC), Archive Series 3. The ACFC is an extensive collection documenting children's folklore and related research.

Physical Description

Handwritten game description in blue ink on lined paper. Text printed on both sides of page.

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