Summary

Game names (and types): 'What's The Time Mr Wolf' (chanting game), 'Rats and Rabbits', 'Crows and Crocodiles' (chasing games)
Alternative types: running game, language play

Typed game descriptions of 'What's The Time Mr Wolf' and 'Rats and Rabbits' compiled for Dr Dorothy Howard by Elizabeth Cook in 1954-55. To play 'What's The Time Mr Wolf', Cook writes that one child is elected 'Mr Wolf' while the other players, the 'lambs', line up at the home base. The 'lambs' repeatedly call out 'What's the time Mr Wolf?', who answers with different times. With each response, the 'lambs' approach 'Mr Wolf' until 'Dinner time' is called and they are chased back to the home base. If caught, the 'lambs' become 'little wolves' and assist with the chasing. Cook also describes 'Rats and Rabbits', a game involving two teams. One team is elected the chasers, who proceed to chase their opponents until all players are captured. Cook notes that this game is also known as 'Crows and Crocodiles'.

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

Typed game descriptions in black ink on paper. Comprises two sheets with letterheads in black ink along upper portions. Text printed on one side only. Handwritten annotations in red pencil and blue ink on both pages.

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