Cat's Cradle Game History

Sometimes a whole drama was played by means of the changing shapes.

Cat's cradle game history. Though it is most commonly seen as a childrens game in contemporary society cats cradle is one of the oldest and most widespread games found in recorded human history. The cats cradle string game has been played since ancient times all over the world. In a literal sense a cats cradle is a game played with string in which each player must maneuver their fingers to create different images one of which is the cats cradle.

String games like this one have a rich and varied history. Some sources say that children played Cats Cradle in England as early as 1782. CATS CRADLE is one of the worlds simplest string games.

The Oxford English Dictionary describes the origin as fancifull and notes the. Back when I was in middle school I went through a phase where I was really into cats cradle. Known as fan sheng in China and Jack in the Pulpit in the UK its a simple game that requires teamwork and offers a great sense of satisfaction when mastered.

The best guess of most historians is that Cats Cradle got its start in a rudimentary form somewhere in Southeast Asia near China and Korea where the game is still played today. Variations of the game have been found in cultures across the world including Eastern Asia Africa the Americas and even the Arctic giving the game a significant amount of interest among anthropologists and ethnologists. Using simply one string - alone in pairs or in groups - across times and cultures humans have created figures invented stories and let their imagination soar.

Our Cats Cradle and Other String Games uses the Haddon and Rivers terminology for defining the strings on the fingers and features jumbo yarn. The question of who first played cats cradle the childrens game in which two players alternately take from each others fingers an intertwined cord so as always to produce a symmetrical figure is almost as contentious as the origin of its name. Cats cradle is one of the oldest games in recorded human history and involves creating various string figures either individually or by passing a loop of.

Haddon has pointed out the familiar game of cats-cradle probably had its origin in Asia whence it was introduced into Europe. Included are directions for four classic string games. It is thought that this particular game traveled to Europe in the early seventeenth century with the tea trade from Asia.