The Pooh-sticks Bridge

The official Pooh Corner Rules for Playing Poohsticks
by Mike Ridley, the owner of 'Pooh Corner' in Hartfield, 1996

1. First, you each select a stick and show it to your fellow competitors. You must agree which stick is which - or whose, as it were.
2. Check which way the stream is flowing. Competitors need to face the stream on the side where it runs in, under the bridge (upstream). Note: If the stream runs out, from under the bridge you are standing on the wrong side! (downstream).
3. Choose someone to be a Starter. This can be either the oldest or the youngest competitor.
4. All the competitors stand side by side facing upstream.
5. Each competitor holds their stick at arms length over the stream. The tall competitors should lower their arms to bring all the sticks to the same height over the stream as the shortest competitor's stick.
6. The starter calls, "Ready - Steady - Go!" and all the competitors drop their sticks. Note: the stick must not be thrown into the water.
7. At this point in the game all the players must cross to the downstream side of the bridge. Please take care - young players like to race across. Remember, other people use bridges and some of them have vehicles or horses.
8. Look over the edge of the bridge for the sticks to emerge. The owner of the first Stick to float from under the bridge, is the winner.

Feel free to try your hand at Pooh-sticks against the denizens of the Hundred Acre Wood. Your stick is the one with the red ribbon.

	Information on the opponent you have selected will appear in this box.
Choose an opponent: Roo Kanga Owl Rabbit Eeyore Tigger Piglet Christopher Robin Winnie-the-Pooh
Watch Your Stick Go!

You can read about the origins of the game of Pooh-sticks in chapter 6 of the House at Pooh Corner.

You can also play a game with others at the Virtual Pooh-sticks Server or try a jigsaw puzzle of the bridge.