Cat's Cradle Game History

The use of cats in the cradle to describe something dangerous appears to come from an old wives tale that if allowed into its crib a cat would kill an infant by sucking out its breath.

Cat's cradle game history. That certainly sounds far-fetched today but it was a commonly held superstition back in the 1600s and 1700s. Back when I was in middle school I went through a phase where I was really into cats cradle. Included are directions for four classic string games.

Cats Cradle is one of the oldest games in human history. Our Cats Cradle and Other String Games 3014 uses the Haddon and Rivers terminology for defining the strings on the fingers and features jumbo yarn. String games like this one have a rich and varied history.

String figures are a storytelling tradition in many cultures around the world including among Arctic Indigenous Peoples Aboriginal. It is probably one of the oldest games. 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.

The best guess of most historians is that Cats Cradle got its start in a rudimentary form somewhere in Southeast Asia near China and Korea where the game is still played today. In a literal sense a cats cradle is a game played with string in which each player must maneuver their fingers to create different images one of which is the cats cradle. Though it is most commonly seen as a childrens game in contemporary society cats cradle is one of the oldest and most widespread games found in recorded human history.

Cats Cradlegets its name from the childrens game. Rather it was developed independently by many cultures around the same time. 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.

Haddon has pointed out the familiar game of cats-cradle probably had its origin in Asia whence it was introduced into Europe. 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. I had to look up the history of Cats Cradle and was surprised to find that this clever game is played by children EVERYWHERE.