Marble Month

When I was a student at Lincoln Elementary School in Manteca back in the late 80's/early 90's, I used to LOVE playing games and sports at recess. 4-square, tether ball, hopscotch, Chinese jump rope, around-the-world....all were very fun as a rambunctious school kid. But my favorite game of all, and the most anticipated time of the year, was March Marble Month! Does anyone else know about this phenomenon? Did you also have Marble Month in your school?

Well every March, our school allowed kids to bring marbles for competitive play during recess and lunch breaks. The game is very simple - you and your opponents each select your shooter and place any marbles you wish to play with as targets inside the designated playing area. Shooters are designated marbles used to knock targets. Your shooter should be larger than the other marbles so it's powerful enough to do its job. It should also look different from other marbles so you can distinguish it from them easily. Take your turn when the time comes by shooting your marble from the perimeter of the playing area at any marble or marbles inside. Shoot by kneeling on the ground and flicking your marble out of your fist with your thumb. Each player takes turns, and any marble that you hit you get to keep.

I LOVED bringing my colorful collection of glass marbles to school in my little cloth sack, coveting the bag close to me during class and counting down the minutes, seconds until the next recess. I was quite the competitive little girl, and I had no fear playing against the toughest boys in my class...and I often won!

Oh the nostalgia...I wonder if I kept any of those beautiful marble memories up in my collection of childhood toys in my parent's attic?