Summary

Game name (and type): 'Scare Crow' (chasing game)
Alternative type: running games

Handwritten description of the chasing game 'Scare Crow' written for Dr Dorothy Howard by Jeanette Boyce, a student at Double View Government Primary School, probably on 25 March 1955. Boyce describes 'Scare Crow' as an outdoor game which can be played by any number of children. She writes that one child is elected 'He'. 'He' chases the other players, who must stand like a scarecrow if caught. Remaining players can free the scarecrows by re-tagging them. The game continues until 'He' has turned all players into scarecrows.

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.

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