COME OUT & PLAY | MARCH 2018
RING TAW Ring Taw, or marbles, is an ancient game that children have played for hundreds of years. Researchers think that ancient Romans played a similar game, though no one is sure of the exact rules. It was a tradition to give bags of nuts and marbles as a gift for the winter celebration Saturnalia, so the game of marbles was likely popular for Roman children. Children across Egypt and Europe also collected and played with marbles through the centuries. It is almost as if every group of children had its own set of rules. The game of marbles with the rules that we are most familiar with today dates to European in the 18th century. However, there are still many variations of the game. Here is how to play one version known as Ring Taw. This game is played in the National Marbles Tournament. Draw a circle on the ground a few feet across. Draw a second smaller circle in the middle of the first. There is no limit to the number of players, but each player should have at least six small, round marbles. It is helpful if the marbles are distinct, so it is easy to remember to whom they belong. Next, draw a line several feet away from the circle. This is called the taw line. The standard taw line is 6 feet away from the circle. The farther away the line is, the harder the game will be. Each player should put five marbles in the small inner circle. Players take turns shooting marbles from behind the taw line. The goal is to use a shooter marble to knock other marbles outside the large circle. The shooter must also end outside the circle. Players collect any marbles they knock out of the circle. If the shooter stays inside the circle, the player can continue with a different marble that he or she knocked out earlier as the new shooter. If a player has no more marbles to shoot, he or she is out of the game. The game ends when all the marbles have been knocked out of the circle. The winner is the person who has collected the most marbles at the end of the game.
