Hopscotch

We were reminiscing about hopscotch and I was shocked to discover I’d never taught L how to play it.  P and I had once had an exhausting session out on the road when she was quite a grown up teenager.  We must teach the babies (when they’re old enough of course).

I wondered if I could find any instructions?  Oh yes, there are many, but not for the version we played.  The best thing is to try and describe it.

All you need to start it is a piece of chalk and a flatish stone to throw.  Draw the hopscotch like this:

It all starts when the first person to have a go throws their stone onto the 1.  They then hop and jump their way through all the numbers and back.  This is easy at the beginning when you can do one hop on the 4, 7 and 10 and put two feet down on the other numbers.

Your turn ends if your stone misses landing on the right number or you put two feet down when you’re not supposed to, or if you jump on the square that the stone is on.

You then throw your stone onto all the numbers, one by one, and repeat the same hopping and jumping.

Then it becomes a little more interesting –

Once you have worked your way through all 10 numbers you are able to claim a square.  You show this by writing your initials in the corner like this:

You will be allowed to put both feet down on this square, but other people won’t be allowed to jump on it at all, even though they will still have to land their stone on it when they reach that number.

The winner of the game is the one with the most claimed squares at the end.  Of course, the more you claim as you go along the easier it is to win.

I’m so sorry that I never taught L to play this when she was young.  She would have loved it!