Hopscotch

chalk hopscotch

Hop to it! A classic game to help develop hopping skills - easily modified to challenge proficient children.

Set up

Using a pre-existing hopscotch pattern, chalk, tape, or hoops, mark out a hopscotch board. You can use a classic style, or make your own! Change it up by making a swirly track, leaving gaps between sections, or varying the size of each hopscotch box. Use a soft toy/small stone.

How to play
Step 1:
  • One by one, a child tosses the stone, trying to land in one of the hopscotch squares
  • They then hop through the pattern, making sure to avoid the square their stone landed in
Step 2:
  • The next child collects the stone and repeats when the first child has returned
Step 3:
  • Switch up the rules and play again!
    • Children must use their other foot to hop, hop backwards, sideways, etc
Variations
Make it easier
  • Children are allowed to hop to a square, land on one foot then put their foot down to prepare for their next hop
  • Have a rest square at the end of the pattern (where the children turn around) - they are able to put their foot down here
Make it harder
  • Children are not allowed to put their foot down
  • Children must use their other foot to hop, hop backwards, sideways, etc
  • Make longer patterns, or smaller squares, that use a different shape to a classic Hopscotch pattern
Activity information
Age: Kindergarten, Pre-Primary, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4
Participants: 1 +
Equipment: Chalk (optional), Soft toys (optional), Tape (optional)
Duration: 10 minutes
Skill focus
Explore these skills for teaching tips
Skill teaching

To teach strong hopping, demonstrate before playing. Use the hopping teaching cues to help you;

  1. Quiet landings (bend ankles, knees and hips)
  2. Bend your leg to push off
  3. Head up and eyes forward (look towards where you are hopping)
  4. Swing & spring
Physical literacy tips
  • Allow children to create their own Hopscotch
  • Play as the animal that the toy is - a toy frog means frog jumping through the game!