Summary

Game name (and type): 'Jump the Mat' (games with music)
Alternative types: elimination games

Handwritten description of the game with music 'Jump the Mat' composed for Dr Dorothy Howard by Maree Stone, a twelve year old student at East Camberwell Girls Secondary School, in 1954-1955. Stone describes 'Jump the Mat' as a game which is played by girls and boys aged between seven and eleven years. She notes that it is played indoors all year round. Stone explains that players walk in a circle, jumping over a mat as they pass, until the music is stopped by another child. She states that the player standing closest to the mat is eliminated from the game. This process continues until all but one child is remaining in the circle. She provides an annotated, hand drawn diagram illustrating the game's layout and progression. Stone lists other players of 'Jump the Mat' including Faye White, Janice Pinchen, Beverley Prentice and Judy Gordon.

One of a collection of letters describing a children's game 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 paper. Comprises two sheets. Features a letterhead printed in black ink; second page features an annotated, hand drawn diagram in blue ink and borders ruled in red pencil.

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