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Ways to Play Marbles

Games using small, round bits of stone, metal or glass go back thousands of years, possibly to ancient Egyptian civilization. Marbles get their name from the marble stone used to make these game pieces during the 18th century, though they can be made from nearly anything. Children in ancient Rome played games using small, round nuts. Most civilizations have at least one game using marbles or something similar.

Basic Rules
- The basic game, called "Ringer," involves knocking marbles out of a ring drawn on the ground. Though tournament rules prescribe the size and type of ring, for ordinary play the ring can be anywhere from three to 10 feet in diameter. The smaller the ring, the easier the play. Draw the ring in chalk on a sidewalk, with a stick in dirt or with a piece of string on carpet.
  
  To determine the order of play, the players do what is called "lagging." Each player shoots a marble from one side of the circle, and the player whose marble lands closest to the other side of the circle goes first. Next closest second and so on.
  
  The object is to knock as many marbles as possible from the ring, using the slightly larger "shooter" marble. As in billiards, the shooter marble is used from the spot it landed after the last shot. To shoot, at least one of the player's knuckles must be touching the ground. Launch the shooter marble from the crook of the forefinger, using the thumb to flick it.
  
  The player who succeeds in knocking the most marbles from the circle wins. You can play the game for "fair," and the marbles all returned to their owners, or for "keeps," where the winner keeps all the marbles.
Some Other Games
- In Boss Out, each player uses only one marble, and they take turns trying to hit each other's marble. The player who hits his opponent's marble takes both marbles.
  
  Bun-Hole involves a 1-foot-diameter hole dug in the ground. The players try to shoot their marbles to land as close to the edge of that hole as possible without falling in. The player whose marble comes closest wins all the marbles.
  
  Cherry Pit also has a hole in the ground. The players put several marbles around the edge of that hole, then take turns trying to knock the marbles into it. The player who knocks the most marbles into the hole wins. You can play this either for fair or for keeps.
  
  You can play tic-tac-toe with marbles, where the players try to land their pieces in the proper alignment on a grid drawn on the ground.

Kids Games