Summary

Game names (and types): 'Traffic Lights' (elimination game), 'Colours' (jumping game), 'Make a House' (imitation game), 'Riddles' (language play)
Alternative type: play with props/equipment

Handwritten descriptions of an elimination game, a jumping game, an imitation game and several riddles composed for Dr Dorothy Howard by Sue Pryke, Patricia Watson, Nancy MacLennan and Robin Davies, students at Clayfield College, in October 1954. Sue Pryke describes the elimination game 'Traffic Lights', which she plays with Sue, Pat, Barbara, Fay, Lesley and Robin. Each traffic light corresponds with an action. Players who fail to perform the correct action are eliminated. She also describes 'Colours', providing details of the games rules and a hand drawn diagram. To play, the first letter of different colours are written in a nine-square grid. A 'caller' calls out the various colours while another player jumps to the corresponding square within the grid. Patricia Watson describes 'Make a House', which involves a table, chair and tea set. To play, each player must rearrange the props in an entirely unique way. Nancy MacLennan and Robin Davies transcribe a number of riddles.

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 descriptions in blue ink on lined paper. Features text by four different hands; text printed on both sides of page. Includes a diagram in text on front of page.

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