Summary

Game name (and type): 'French and English' (chasing game)
Alternative type: running games, team games

Handwritten description of the chasing game 'French and English' written for Dr Dorothy Howard by Wanda Earle, a student at Double View Government Primary School, on 25 March 1955. Earle states that 'French and English' can be played by any number of players both inside or outside. To play, two teams are established, each with a captain. Earle writes that the first player of the English team approaches the French team, tapping all on the palm but one, who they touch on the back of the hand. The selected French child must chase the English player back to their team. This process is repeated by the French team.

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. Features borders ruled in red pencil; text written on one side only.

More Information