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A Children’s World Game
Kids are kids, no matter where they live. On fine spring days, you find them outside looking for games to play. It's the nature of being young.
Take the game of marbles for example. From villages in deepest Africa to towns along the China Sea, youngsters have been playing a version of this traditional game for thousands of years.
There are many reasons why the game of marbles has been so popular. It's easy to play and requires no equipment. Both the rich and the poor have an equal chance of winning. If you have at least one marble, you can get into a game. And if you're skilful, you can win.
Perhaps most important of all, the rules are flexible. That means that the rules can be changed by the players. That's why there are no written rules for marbles. You and your friends can get a game going and, as long as you all agree, those are the rules for the game in your neighbourhood.
However, the goal is always the same. Players put their marbles on the ground. They try to win their opponents' marbles by hitting the marbles or by knocking them out of a circle. At the end of a game, one player goes home with a bag full of marbles. The others go home with bags that are far lighter than when they arrived.
The actual marbles have changed a lot since the early days when Egyptian children and later, the Romans, played the game.
The first marbles were small round stones. Later, clay marbles appeared. Even later, marbles started being made from glass. The prettiest glass marbles are always the most valuable. Marble players often trade marbles, trying to get the most colourful and beautiful ones for themselves.
Today, there is an International Marble Championship. But as any youngster knows, the best game of marbles is played in the schoolyard. The days are warm, the marbles roll easily, and friends gather around to see who will have the best luck that day.