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a circle.

One of the most important things about marbles in the circle is that they do not look like someone's "shooter". Shooters are marbles used as weapons that push target marbles to the outsides of circles. Shooters are usually bigger than the targets. Prior to play, each child chooses a shooter. If there is not enough bigger marbles available, players must select marbles that are easily distinguished from targets to use as their shooters. Otherwise, targets and shooters can get mixed up.

There are several ways in which marble players hold shooters before sending them after the targets. These holding positions include (1) making a fist with your thumb inside the fist to shoot, (2) plucking the marbles with an index finger, and (3) squeezing the marbles from between the thumb and index finger. It is a good idea for children to practice different methods so they can decide which works best for them.

The most complicated method is the fist method. When shooting this way, you must make the kind of fist you do not want to make while fighting lest you may break your thumb! This method is the most popular because once perfected, it is the most effective. In order to use this method, players place their shooter inside their index finger. Alternatively explained, if you will - the index finger wraps around the marble. Therefore, what one does is makes a fist that allows a marble to be held with the index finger. The thumb, which is placed behind the marble, ejects the marble by briskly flicking it from the fist. When done correctly, shooters should spring into action and go sailing across playing circles to knock targets outside circle lines.

In most basic games of play, once a marble is shot from the circle, the person shooting it out pockets the marble and takes another turn. This process is repeated until the person misses and then the next person goes.

Before anyone shoots, players can determine to let younger players go first, let girls go first, or draw a line about four feet from the circle and then each player tosses or shoots their marbles toward the circle. When using the drawn line method, anyone who knocks a marble from the circle goes first. If more than one person knocks a marble from the circle, the person whose shooter is closest to a target still in the circle goes first. If someone knocks more than one marble from the circle, that person goes first, and so on. After all marbles are knocked out of the circle the person with the most marbles wins.

Prior to beginning the game, it must be determined whether the game is "for keeps" meaning all players get to keep any and all marbles they knock from the circle. When not playing for keeps, all marbles must be returned to rightful owners once marble play ends.

As stated above, there are many variations of how to play marbles. After learning how to shoot, players often seek to explore other marble playing games. Another thing, when playing marbles indoors, string may be used to make circles on the floor. Tape can be used to hold the string in place. In fact, tape can also be used to make the boundaries. Using tape, however, may not generate the roundness most players prefer when they are playing marbles.

Learn more about this author, R. Renee Bembry.
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