Summary

Game name (and type): 'King' (chasing game)
Alternative types: ball games, running games, counting-out actions

Handwritten description of the chasing game 'King' written for Dr Dorothy Howard by Rodney Mitchell, a student at Double View Government Primary School, presumably on 25 March 1955. To play 'King', Mitchell writes that a ball and a minimum of five players are required. He explains that players form a circle, throwing a ball to each other. The first player to drop the ball assumes the role of chaser. The chaser runs after the other players, attempting to hit them with the ball. If successful, the captured players assist him to catch other children. Mitchell notes that once the chaser has captured players, he can no longer run with the ball. Rather he must throw the ball from a stationary position, utilising his assistants to get closer to the remaining players.

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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