The New York Times had a Backstory on marbles of all things. We played marbles as children, but today, marble players can compete for college scholarships of $1,000 each, in additions to awards. There is even an annual National Marbles Tournament at which a marble king and marble queen are crowned. Take a look at the rules and program. The National Marbles Tournament tells how to set up a marble program for competitors ages 7 to 14 under the auspices of the grandchildren’s school or after school activity, and the grandchildren must know the rules for the official game, “Ringer,” also on the website. In “Ringer,” a player uses a shooter marble to knock thirteen target marbles out of a circle. There are types of shots one can take, and even advanced shots, such as a “backspin” when the shooter marble is caused to spin backward and stay within the circle.
However, another website has the traditional game rules with pictures to be able to show grandchildren how to pay this “official” marbles game.
To know more about the types of tournaments and how to begin the process of participation, check out http://www.marblechamp.com/marble-tournaments
Marbles and marble games can be played by all ages and have been played for over 300 generations, according to the National Marble Tournament. There are hundreds of marble games, and can be played with things other than marbles, as they have since ancient times with such as fruit pits, nuts and pebbles. This is a way to get our grandchildren to eat fruit, and also count nuts and pebbles. It was not until the 1800’s in the United States that marbles were first produced and made out of clay.
This Grandma has bought the grandchildren many award winning marble games, of course, from the Oppenheimer Toy Awards on www.toyportfolio.com
Here are my favorites:
Marble Maze Train by Kidstation. It is a maze in an old fashioned carved wood board. It is large: 24″ by 11.” The beauty of this marble toy is that it is loaded with giant marbles that roll but will not come out of the maze. According to the Oppenheimer Toy Awards, this is a platinum award winner where [t]he object is to move them [marbles] through the gates, curves, and swirls. This calls for individuating the pointer finger from others.” Because the marbles cannot come out, it is a safe toy for ages toddler and up. I have found even school age children to adults love this maze, but it is hard to find in stores and on line.
Marble Runs. There are different marble runs a grandma can buy. They are all expensive toys to buy for a birthday or holiday.All must be put together, and require an adult to assist, no matter the age of the child, with less assistance with older children. Because the marbles are free, this is not for a grandchild who still puts things in his or her mouth. Marbles get lost, so buy lots of extras with the marble run. According to the Oppenheimer Toy Awards, the recommended marble run is:
Hape The Challenger Quadrilla Marble Run by HaPe, described as: “With three spiral boards this is a step up from last year’s two spiral Cyclone Quadrilla. Like all the Quardrilla Marble runs, this is a great and elegant marble run–a building toy that is more complex than most. It comes with two suggested ways of building and no doubt your young builder will come up with other ideas as well. It comes with straight and curved rails, high-velocity funnels, a see-saw, accelerators, blocks, levelers, bases and 50 marbles. Made with birch and rubber woods. The box says 4 & up, but 4’s will not be able to construct this. They will play with the marbles, but even 5-6-7’s are going to need adult help with building this.” This Grandma, however, bought Mega Fun Marble Run, made of plastic, which the grandchildren love and is a lot cheaper.
A 2015 award winner is painting with marbles with a wonderful manufacturer of art supples, Faber Castell Paint with Marbles. This is a nice visit present for school age children as it comes with paint and lots of supplies that we grandmas might not want to deal with in our homes: “A fun way to experiment with paints using marbles that twist and turn in the paint as they roll over the paper in the “magic” box tray. It’s an opportunity to be inventive rather than having to make representational art. The kit comes with 10 shatterproof marbles, five tubes of washable paint, 20 pieces of paper, 3 reusable plastic stencils, clever spoons for picking up the marbles for those who hate to get their fingers dirty and a washable tray to use while making the art. Our tester liked the two textured brushes that make designs on the paper and foam frames and hanging tabs for displaying her artistic creations.
Now, for marble games we grandmas remember. Chinese checkers is an inexpensive marble game to have at home for children. Buy at Amazon.
And there are lots of marble solitare sets that can even decorate our coffee tables and keep our grandchildren busy.
If you are into apps, there are a lot of marble games to explore in the electronic arena. Or just buy a bag of jumbo marbles and a piece of chalk and play marbles outside with grandchildren with
Joy,
Mema
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