Mr. Fox, what time is it?, or What's the time, Mr. Wolf?, is a popular tag game in many English-speaking regions, or some former British colonies. There are quite a sum of variants, but the basic element is that players ask the tagger the time and the tagger replies with an hour of a day, such as five o'clock. While its origin is not very clear, but its early rules and game plays were recorded in 1899 book from London in the United Kingdom as "Pray, Mr. Fox, what time is it?", and in another 1917 book from the University of California in the United States as "If you please, Mr. Fox, what time is it?".
The games evolved with new names other than fox, such as wolf and shark, or using different question words, such as "What's the time?", or moving the Mr. animal to the end of the question.
The game is popular in many parts of the world, such as Australia, Canada, the English-speaking Caribbean, Hong Kong, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The 1899 book is "A History of Nursery Rhymes" by Percy B. Green. The author described Mr. Fox's "Twelve o'clock" was "the sly and foxy answer to the question", demonstrating the cunning of fox, a traditional belief in England. The tagger need to manipulating the hours in order to achieve a successful "hunt".
The game was introduced to physical education as early as 1917, and was recited in education publications many times. Because it needs attention skills, quick reactions, and working memory for the "it" child, it is recommended by Harvard University's Center on the Developing Child to assist in developing executive function skills for children aged 5 to 7.
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