Burdock-Burr Game
Fig.138 - Hold the burr this way when you throw it at the target.
Besides making things of burdock-burrs, you can play a game with them. The game is something like archery, only, instead of shooting arrows at a target, you throw burrs at it.
Get a good-sized piece of woollen cloth or some kind of material with a rough surface to which the burrs will cling. Tack this up on the fence or on a board; then, with a large piece of chalk that will make a wide mark, draw four circles, one inside the other like [Fig. 137]. It doesn't matter if your circles are not perfect. Do the best you can and finish your target. Number the spaces between the circles 1, 2, 3, 10. The outer space is 1, the next, 2, next to the centre 3, and the centre 10. The centre, being the bull's-eye, counts most.
Have ready a lot of burrs for each player; mark a boundary-line on the ground, beyond which no one must step in throwing the burrs, and, standing at the boundary-line, let each player in turn throw three burrs at the target. The burrs that stick to the target make the score if they are in the numbered spaces. [Fig. 138] shows how to hold the burr. Suppose one burr sticks to the space numbered 2, and the two others are in number 1, the player would then have two ones and one two which, added together, make four; her score then would be four.
Always pull the burrs of one player off the target before the next player takes her turn, and there will be no question as to who should claim them. After each player has had three turns, let every one add up her scores. The player who has the highest wins the game. If divided into sides, the players on the side having the highest score are the winners and they should be given a hearty cheer by the losing side. Even very little girls and boys should learn to be good losers and to help celebrate the victory of others.