FOR THE KIDS : On a Roll : Marbles--the Venerable Sport of Youngsters--Has Made a Strong Comeback

Until last week, the recess bell at Ventura’s Loma Vista School would send small groups of kids to the playground to hunker down in the dirt with marble bags in hand.

Marbles were hot--about 30 games would be going on across the playground. So hot, in fact, that Principal Rich Kirby reluctantly banned them after a number of disruptions, like marbles rolling across the classroom floor.

Last week, the marble fad hit Mound School in Ventura. At recess, kids took to the playground in groups of four or five to play a game called “Poison.” It’s the same game the kids at Loma Vista School were playing.

Here’s how it goes: After making a hole in the dirt, kids stand behind a line, kneel down and shoot their marble, aiming for the hole. If they succeed, they are deemed “poisonous” and, when they hit another marble, they get to keep it. That is, if they are playing for keeps--something they must decide before play begins.

“Poison” is also the game of choice for Ivan Arroyo, 10, and Angel Gonzalez, 12, who play in their Oxnard neighborhood or at the park. Angel played at school until the game was banned.

Ivan has a collection of about 500 marbles, some he bought in Mexico. “I win a lot,” he said.

If a kid is serious about marbles, he knows the rules and the lingo. First of all, the shooter marbles (bigger than the rest) are called taws, glassies or monnies, according to marble experts. The smallers ones are mibs, kimmies, ducks or hoodles.

The proper way to shoot is to hold the marble between the forefinger and thumb, with one knuckle of the hand touching the ground. Then the marble is propelled by a flick of the thumb. Histing (raising the hand from the ground) or hunching (inching the hand forward) are no-no’s in marble etiquette.

Marble games are as numerous and different as the kinds of marbles--cat’s eyes, rainbows, steelies or galaxies--that kids today collect.

The most popular game is called “Ringer.” In this game, kids draw a big circle on the ground, then line up 13 marbles on a cross they have drawn in the center. Using a shooter, they take turns trying to knock the smaller marbles out of the circle.

This is the game competitors play every June in the National Marbles Tournament in Wildwood, N. J., a contest only for kids 14 and under.

At Loma Vista School, marbles were so popular that the school held a schoolwide tournament last month and 140 kids joined in the round-robin event.

The marble craze started there late last year and for two months “it was nice,” Kirby said, because kids of all ages were playing with each other, even boys with girls.

Kids brought an interesting assortment of marble bags, too, some with elaborate beadwork or feathers, and some that had been handed down from a parent.

Some kids didn’t play marbles, but simply traded them. All in all, it created a run on marbles at local stores.

“In town, there was not a marble to be found,” Kirby said. Kids would even call local stores that stocked them to find out when a shipment would be arriving.

But the fad was starting to die down by the time Kirby told kids last week that they could no longer bring marbles to school, he said.

Elsewhere in the county, marbles are clicking, although not at craze-level. The Boy Scouts organization has a marble sports program for Cub Scouts, who can earn pins and belt loops by learning and playing the game.

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Mardi Gras in Moorpark? A Children’s Mardi Gras Carnival will be held Monday at the Moorpark Community Center, 799 Moorpark Ave., from 1 to 4 p.m. Children 3 to 12 are invited for the free activities, which include carnival games with prizes and a costume contest.

Details

* FYI: If you want to learn more about marbles, pick up a copy of “The Klutz Book of Marbles” at a local bookstore. However, most bookstores in the county were out of it last week, but would gladly order it. The book, published by Klutz Press in Palo Alto, costs $7.95 and includes 15 different marble games, along with a pouch of 14 marbles and a shooter.

* ALSO: Or, you can pick up the Boy Scouts of America marble booklet from the Scouts trading post at the Ventura County Council, 509 E. Daily Drive, Camarillo. It sells for $1.35.

* BUYER’S GUIDE: To buy marbles, here are a few outlets (some were sold out last week): Toys R Us, Kay-Bee Toy & Hobby Shops, Sav-On Drugs, Thrifty Drug Stores, Village Kite & Toy Store in Ventura and Serendipity Toys in Ojai.