Did you ever play with a piece of string and make a cup and saucer, or a broom, or Jacob’s Ladder? Using string to make shapes and figures is an old game. According to Cat’s Cradle by Anne Akers Johnson, people around the world have made string figures for ages including the Arctic Inuit who made reindeer and wolves out of string, and the Navajo made coyotes and owls.
All you really need to play string games is a loop of string and two hands. A few string patterns need the loan a friend’s hand, but most don’t need any help. If you don’t remember how to do make these, don’t worry. There are lots of books and websites out there to show you how. String Figures from Klutz press comes with strings and explains how to make seven different projects from seven different cultures. String Games by Richard Darsie has a variety of projects from easy to advanced, even some that require more than one person and a few tricks, too. Camilla Gryski’s Favorite String Games has some unique projects including the Looper Caterpillar and the Siberan House.
There is even an International String Figure Association (ISFA). Their goal is “to gather, preserve, and distribute string figure knowledge so that future generations will continue to enjoy this ancient pastime.” They also encourage the invention of new string figures and sharing them with one another. According to their website, over two thousand different patterns have been published since 1888, when anthropologist Franz Boas first described how to make an Eskimo string figure. The ISFA have a marvelous book called Fascinating String Figures with 23 unique projects including a polar bear, a cobweb, a turtle, and a even a trick or two.
String games are easy, and inexpensive. They are great way to introduce different cultures in a lesson, while storytelling or reading a book. As a plus, string games are a very quiet game. They make a nice travel game, or a nice waiting game. So tie a length a string and see what your kids can do!
Also See:
Toys and Dolls for Multicultural Families