Ronald Guertin, age 9, of Grand Rapids, Mich. for his question:

TELL ME ABOUT THE GAME OF MARBLES

The game of marbles has been popular with children for many centuries. Before the time of Christ, children in Egypt and Rome were playing the game with little stone and glass balls of many colors. Now in North America it is almost a tradition: every spring and all summer long young people knuckle down on the ground to play the grand old game.

A number of different games are played with marbles but basically a circle about 10 feet across is drawn on the ground and each player puts up to 13 marbles in a cross marked at the center. Each player in turn then shoots ¬usually with a special larger marble  and attempts to knock the smaller marbles out of the ring. This is done after players have ''lagged'' toward a pitch line, with the one coming closest getting the first shot.

"For fair" means that you're playing for fun, and you give the marbles back to the owner after the game. "For keeps'' means that you keep the marbles you shoot out of the ring. You're " histing " when you raise your hand from the ground when shooting and ''hunching'' when you move your hand forward across the ring line when shooting.

Ordinary marbles are made of glass and they come in a wide variety of colors. Pigment is usually inserted to give the marbles a marbleized effect. Most come from West Virginia. A plant at Clarksburg turns out millions of them each year.

One type of marble is called an aggie. It's actually made from agate, a fine grained type of quartz that comes from Germany. Germany also manufactures marbles in limestone that are popular with some players. Not too long ago marbles were even made out of painted and glazed clay.

If you've ever played marbles, perhaps you'll recognize some of these names: moonstone, rainbow, cat's eye, peppermint stripe and genuine carnelian.

The official rules of marbles may vary from one section of the country to another but most agree that if a player removes a pebble or other obstacle from the ground he is penalized by the loss of one shot. Also, the player must not change shooters during the game nor may he walk across the ring during the game. when you loft in a game of marbles, you are performing a difficult shot in which you shoot in an arc through the air to hit a marble.

Also in the game you'll call your marbles by some of these names: mibs, miggs, ducks, commies or hoodles. Shooters are sometimes called taws, monnies or glassies.

Are they playing marbles in your neighborhood this summer?