Beaver Scouts : Programme Ideas

Marbles

Children have played marbles in ancient Egypt as long ago as 4000 BC and the game has never fallen out of fashion since. Nobody knows what games the ancient Egyptians or the Romans played with their marbles. In fact, nobody knows which games were played until more recent times as they were never written down. How to play marbles was pass on my word of mouth from child to child over the centuries.

The equipment required is simple – marbles, perhaps a stick of chalk and a playing surface

marble1 Techiques

Most games need very little in the way of technique, you can throw the marble as suit you best. Having said that it always helps to have a little bit more skills. Some of the techniques you can teach your Beavers include Flicking, Fingering, Knuckling and Bowling.

Marbles are great fun and offer many different game opportunities

Rules of the game

Every games has its own individual rule but the general rule in marbles centres around whether you are playing for ?keepsies?(players keeping the marbles they have won) or ?fairsies (players handing back mables they have won in a game. It is also a good idea to agree on marble size as large marbles are easier to hit.

Bomber

The first player throws a marble any distance. The second player then tosses their marble towards the first and tries to hit the target or get within a handspan or a pace distance depending on water is agreed.

Black Snake

Create a small obstacle course of 7 or 8 objects. The object of the game is to get through the obstacle course by hitting each obstacle in turn. One player starts by hitting object 1 then progresses to object 2 etc. until he/she misses an object. The next player tries to get a better score.

Bounce eye

Draw a circle about 30cm across. Each player playing the game place an agreed number of marbles in the circle. Each player in turn drops a marble from a set height and any marble that are knocked out of the circle as a result they win. The winner of each round is the player with the most marbles.

Dropsies

Draw a square on the ground. Each player playing places an agreed number of marbles in the square – usually 5 marbles. Each player in turn standing outside the square drops a marble from waist height and tries to hit individual marbles out of the square. First player to reach five wins.

Handers

Make a hole 8cm across about a 30cm in front of a wall. (when playing on the street a water point shore is normally used). Each player gives player one two marbles who tries to throw they in the hole any that are on target he/she keeps and that fail to land in the hole are passed to the next player. The game continues until every player has had a turn at being player one.

Spanners

This is a two player game and perhaps the simplest of all the marble games. One player throws a marble usually along a pathway or roadway using the gutter of the road as a line. The second player tries to hit the first player marble. It?s a bit like chasing. The second player can start to throw before the first player marble has stopped rolling and if it is hit he/she gets two marbles. Once the first player is hit the do the chasing

Tic – Tac - Toe

Draw a nine square grid on the ground and agree a shooting line. Each player in turn tries to throw a marble so that it lands in one of the squares. If it land in a square already occupied or on a line it does not count. First player to get three marbles in a row is the winner. In nearly all marble games, the aim is to shoot a marble at a target. You may need to draw lines or circles to mark out a target area and the point from which you will shoot ( the shooting line). For some games, you use shallow holes in the ground as targets – or water point shores on a pavement. Marble games can be as simple, or as complicated as you like.

If you want to find out more and get a supply of marbles then seek out a copy of Marble Madness by Amanda O?Neill. A Parragon Book. ISBN 0-75256-245-2 The book comes in a box set with marbles. It can be brought in Easons or most big bookshops.