Croquet facts for kids
Croquet is a recreational game and, latterly, a competitive sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops embedded into the grass playing arena.
History
The game was apparently invented in Ireland in the 1830s and taken to England as a pastime of the aristocracy in the 1850s. It may have evolved from the earlier mallet and ball game pall mall. It made its way to the United States, Australia, and France, and while never hugely popular has continued to maintain a substantial following.
It was an event at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Roque, an event at the 1904 Summer Olympics is believed to have been a variation.
Variations of the game include eXtreme Croquet and Bicycle Croquet.
Images for kids
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Leon Wyczółkowski, A Game of Croquet (1892–1895), National Museum, Warsaw
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Croquet being played at a club in the UK. (Four balls are visible on the lawn - Black, Green, Red, Brown - showing that two games are in progress ("double-banking"): red and black belong to one game, green and brown to the other).
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Croquet being played recreationally in Wetherby, West Yorkshire
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Paille-maille (pall-mall) illustrated in Old English Sports, Pastimes and Customs, published 1891. Original image by Lauthier, 1717.
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Early croquet-like game from The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England, first published 1801. Hoop, peg, and two players with balls clearly shown. Such implements in ground billiards games date to classical antiquity.
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Croquet players in Sweden, early 20th century
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A game of croquet being played at Eglinton Castle, North Ayrshire, in the early 1860s
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Backyard croquet being played in rough grass with inexpensive equipment, United States, 2009
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Croquet player in a Michigan front yard, 1959
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The Croquet Game, Édouard Manet, 1873
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Louise Abbéma, A Game of Croquet (Trouville, 1872), private collection
See also
In Spanish: Croquet para niños
