Item HT 41280 Document - Irene Roberts, to Dorothy Howard, Description of Circle Game 'Cat & Mouse', 25 Mar 1955

Summary

Game name (and type): 'Cat and Mouse' (circle game)
Alternative types: chasing game

Handwritten description of the circle game 'Cat and Mouse' written for Dr Dorothy Howard by Irene Roberts, a student at Double View Government Primary School, presumably on 25 March 1955. Roberts writes that two children are selected as a 'cat' and 'mouse' while the other players hold hands to form a circle. The 'mouse' stands in the centre, trying to avoid the 'cat' as it tries to enter from outside the circle. Roberts states that the game continues until the 'mouse' is caught.

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.