Back to Basics :: Marbles {and a DIY Marble Holster}

When I was a kid, we used to play marbles all the time. I’d take my bag of marbles to school every day and play at recess. You too?

I decided it was time my kids learned how to shoot marbles too. But before you can play the game, you definitely need a fun marble holster.

This marble holster is so easy to make and it’ll take you less than five minutes. You’ll need ribbon that’s 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide and 16 inches long. I chose a polka dot ribbon for Lila but a more masculine ribbon would make an awesome holster for a boy.

Fold one end 2.5 inches down and stitch it in place, forming a loop.

Fold the other end up 1/4 to 1/2 an inch and sew in place {this just forms a nice hemmed edge}.

Take the hemmed edge and pull it up past the edge of your top fold and stitch the edges in place.

That’s it! You have a fun marble holster that slides onto your belt.

To get the marbles out of the holster, give the bottom a little squeeze and the marbles will pop right out the top.

Now are you ready to play?

A couple of business items first. You’ve got to know two important terms in order to end the game with happy campers. Keepsies means at the end of the game, the winners keep any marbles they won. Friendlies means the game was just for fun and all marbles are given back to the owner.

And you’ve got to know how to properly shoot a marble. You’ll need to “knuckle down”. Simply hold the marble in the crook of your index finger and flick it with your thumb.

I grew up playing a very simple form of marbles. To play, draw a circle on the ground, a few feet in diameter.

Each player will put one to three marbles into the ring, anywhere they like.

Standing outside the circle, players use their larger shooter marble to try to knock marbles out of the circle. Any marbles that get knocked out, get collected and kept by the one that knocked them. The player also collects his shooter marble and the turn goes to someone else.

If no marbles go out of the circle, the shooter has to put another marble into the circle and take his shooter out and the turn goes to someone else.

When all the marbles are out of the circle, the game is over and the person with the most marbles wins.

For other Back to Basics posts, click the links below:
Hopscotch {and DIY Sidewalk Chalk}
Jacks {and a Drawstring Bag}