Do you remember how? I thought my girls might be too old now to want to play hopscotch, but we were just all out in the street, remembering and learning the fine strategies of this centuries old game, and loving it!
When I brushed up on the rules, I read that it was a game the Roman soldiers used to play to practice coordination. Can you imagine a bunch of grown men playing hopscotch?
As soon as we started playing, I was instantly eight again. Long skinny tan summer legs, and stringy blonde hair and all. There's something about playing that does that to you. Makes you feel like a kid again. And I liked that. I wonder if the Roman Soldiers got that same feeling when they played.
I also liked that my girls were having fun. They didn't think they were too old to play either. Why should they. It feels good to feel like a kid. To just play. Not worry about the dishes, tomorrow, or what other people are thinking. I'm thankful that my ten and thirteen year old are still just girls and enjoy playing like the girls they are.
Well, do you remember how to play hopscotch?
1) You'll need to gather some place markers. We painted some rocks to use as our markers, but quickly decided as we played, how much easier it was to use bean bags. The bean bags stayed right where they were thrown, rather than rolling away like the rocks did. But you could use what ever you have. My neighbor told us she used a chunky link of chain, it was her hopscotch winner when she was a kid.
2) Grab your chalk and draw your grid. 10 spaces total. I'm sure you could get creative with your design. We stuck with the classic model.
3) First player throws their marker into space #1, hops over that space, and into every space up to ten, one foot at a time, unless the spaces are next to each other, then you can put two feet down into each space (like our 4 and 5 spaces). When you get to ten, you turn around (feel free to put both feet down here, or to make it more challenging you'll have to only stay on one foot while your turn). When you make your way back before you get to where your marker is, you bend down, pick it up, then hop into that space and off you go.
4) If you did all of step 3 without falling out of the squares you get to go again. Try throwing your rock, bean bag, whatever into space #2. If you make it repeat the rest of step 3. If you miss your throw, set your maker back into the previous space and let the next player take their turn.
5) Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you make it up to #10. The first person to get their marker to the top space wins!
Wikihow has the full directions plus some fun variations to hopscotch.
Let the Children Play had a great idea of extended hopscotch to help with number counting, and extra energy!
And if you can't get enough of hopscotch and want some more fun games to play this summer, you may find some fun ones on this post from The 36th Avenue