Cat's Cradle Game History

Using simply one string - alone in pairs or in groups - across times and cultures humans have created figures invented stories and let their imagination soar.

Cat's cradle game history. The Oxford English Dictionary describes the origin as fancifull and notes the. Cats Cradle has moved a few times in its 50 years including to locations on Franklin and Rosemary streets in Chapel Hill. Is a chamber orchestra that takes its name from one of the oldest games in recorded human history - the cats cradle.

Included are directions for four classic string games. Known as fan sheng in China and Jack in the Pulpit in the UK its a simple game that requires teamwork and offers a great sense of satisfaction when mastered. Cup and Saucer The Witchs Broom Cats Cradle and Jacobs Ladder as well as a brief history of string games.

It does not appear that this game has a particular origin. Some sources say that children played Cats Cradle in England as early as 1782. Variations of the game have been found in cultures across the world including Eastern Asia Africa the Americas and even the Arctic giving the game a significant amount of interest among anthropologists and ethnologists.

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. It is well known in China Korea Japan the Philippines and Borneo. Hoenikker reportedly played it on the day the atomic bomb was droppedas opposed to expressing emotion about all of the people his invention had just killed.

Im one of those people who like to have something to fiddle with in their hands and it was easy to carry a loop of string in my pocket. And it may be known in Java Celebes and Australia. That certainly sounds far-fetched today but it was a commonly held superstition back in the 1600s and 1700s.

Rather it was developed independently by many cultures around the same time. CATS CRADLE is one of the worlds simplest string games. The cats cradle string game has been played since ancient times all over the world.