How to Play – Hopscotch

Overview

Hopscotch is a traditional playground game for children. It is one of the oldest and most popular streets/playground games to exist. In the traditional format, the court is hand drawn with numbers from 1 to 10. However, there are several new variations of the game that are popular among the kids, like the Hands & Feet variation, but the basic rules and playing strategy remain the same for all the variations. The game involves three elements mainly- a court (whether hand drawn or a mat), a marker (any object one throws in the court) and players. The Hands & Feet variation involves a mat with images of hands & feet printed on them. Hopscotch helps children master balance and hand-eye coordination.

Game Play

The player tosses the marker object into the court from the back, without looking at the court. Then, the player hops through the squares using both their hands and feet as per the illustration, skipping the square with the object in it. The player continues this until they reach the last row of squares.

Then the player turns around and retraces their journey hopping through squares until they reach the square with the object in it. The player stops before the square with the object and retrieves the object without stepping into the square. Upon successfully retrieving the object, the player goes back to the starting point.

If the player finished without any mistakes, s/he passes the marker to the next player.

If the player falls, jumps outside the lines, or misses a square or the marker, the player loses their turn and must repeat the game from start. Whoever reaches the starting point with the marker object, wins the game.