Summary

Game name (and type): 'Spider' (chasing game)
Alternative types: running games, games with sticks, games with found objects, games with props/equipment

Handwritten description of the chasing game 'Spider' written for Dr Dorothy Howard by K. Jones, a student at Double View Government Primary School, presumably on 25 March 1955. To play 'Spider', Jones states that four circles or squares are drawn on the ground in the configuration of a square. A player is elected 'he' to chase the other children, any number of which can play. The game's rules are somewhat unclear; however, Jones writes that captured players are placed in either of the two front circles or squares. Other players attempt to throw a stick into the back two shapes, possibly in an effort to free those caught by 'he'. Jones notes that if 'he' steps into one of the squares or circles, the captured players are automatically freed.

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 pencil on lined paper. Features borders ruled in red pencil; text printed on one side only.

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