Cat's Cradle Game History

Cats Cradle is one of the oldest games in human history.

Cat's cradle game history. That certainly sounds far-fetched today but it was a commonly held superstition back in the 1600s and 1700s. In the mid-80s David and the Penleys passed the torch to Frank HeathAs we all realized during two weekends of anniversary shows in December and January the rest is history. 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.

Haddon has pointed out the familiar game of cats-cradle probably had its origin in Asia whence it was introduced into Europe. Our Cats Cradle and Other String Games uses the Haddon and Rivers terminology for defining the strings on the fingers and features jumbo yarn. I had to look up the history of Cats Cradle and was surprised to find that this clever game is played by children EVERYWHERE.

WORDS RECITED DURING STRING GAMES. String games like this one have a rich and varied history. Back when I was in middle school I went through a phase where I was really into cats cradle.

The art of making pictures or telling stories with string and your hands or sometimes feet. The cats cradle string game has been played since ancient times all over the world. And it may be known in Java Celebes and Australia.

Its origin is unknown and it has been found in wildly diverse indigenous cultures from the Arctic to Europe to Indonesia. The use of cats in the cradle to describe something dangerous appears to come from an old wives tale that if allowed into its crib a cat would kill an infant by sucking out its breath. It is probably one of the oldest games.

Included are directions for four classic string games. The Oxford English Dictionary describes the origin as fancifull and notes the. Some sources say that children played Cats Cradle in England as early as 1782.