Even "Fish" love MARBLES!

At four years old, grandson Judah is the "fish" in our backyard pool. He jumps, dives, cannonballs, flips and begs to be thrown in upside down. That day the only way I got him out of the pool was when it began to thunder and an afternoon shower sent him scurrying into the back porch. Although he was disappointed, he quickly became interested in the small bag I set down and opened on the floor - its contents rolling out with bright colors everywhere. Judah was mesmerized!  Marbles! 

After a few tries at "flicking" his thumb, he had it - he was ready to shoot. We giggled and shot marbles all over with great delight - until the shower stopped. Then my little "fish" was back in the pool.  But I'm keeping the marbles close by for the next rainy day...

Why not purchase a bag of marbles for your child(ren) and begin a new tradition of playing "Ringer"!

View How to Play Marbles on Howcast

Lagging

The first person to shoot in a game of marbles is determined by lagging:

1. Draw a line on the ground.
2. The players shoot at the line from 10 feet away.
3. The player closest to the line goes first.

The Game

1. Draw a ring (a large circle – usually about 5 to 10 feet across) and put 13 marbles in it . The marbles should be in a cross and spaced 3 inches apart - or may be placed randomly.
2. Each player shoots in turn from outside the circle, trying to hit a marble out of the ring while keeping his shooter inside the circle.
3. If the shooter has a miss, his turn is over and he picks up the shooter.
4. If the shooter has a hit but the shooter also rolls out of the ring, he keeps the marbles that rolled out and his turn is over.
5. If the shooter has a hit and the shooter stays in the ring then player shoots again from the place where the shooter stayed.
6. On each new turn a player shoots from anywhere outside the ring.
7. The one who collects the most marbles wins!

Mary Byrne Kline