duck on a rock

noun

1. a children's game in which one player stands guard over a stone on a rock while the other players attempt to knock it off by throwing another stone in turn: if the thrower is tagged by the guard while trying to recover the stone, the two players then change positions.

Example Sentences

He could play games with the boys in the courtyard, shooting at a mark, hide-and-go-seek, and duck on a rock.

From Literature

He could play at duck on a rock with the boys.

From Literature

Among the gems: an ancient ball found in the attic of Naismith’s office in Kansas; a model of the original basketball court; and the “Naismith Stone,” a boulder that Naismith used to play “Duck on a Rock” — a childhood game that is said to have inspired the arcing basketball shot.

From Washington Post

But I’d argue that James has an unusually intimate relationship with basketball — a sport that is itself, as James is, cobbled together out of irreconcilable parts: James Naismith invented it, out of desperation, with a peach basket and a football and the rules of an old children’s game called Duck on a Rock.

From New York Times

The urchins, now grown into babbitts or clowns or bigwigs, sang their geography, etched Spencerian parabolas into their copy books, played "duck on a rock" at recess, spelled out the stories in McGuffey's; then they walked home on dusty roads, swinging their book straps and talking to each other, stopping to cut their initials into fence rails or the bark of a tree.

From Time Magazine Archive