Play Plan : Hopscotch

General Information

Prerequisites: balance on one foot, remain balanced while bending over and coming back up and to determine their correct hopping pathway
Play arena:
Number of participants: 1 or more
Skills acquired: physical coordination, balance and orientation, cognitive development, muscle strength, spatial awareness

Note: A bubble wrap hopscotch will provide the necessary sensory experience and will help hear other player’s movement.
Other alternative could be making slightly raised outline border for the players to feel the outline.

Game Overview and Basic Rules for Play

Hopscotch game in India is known by many names. In regions where Hindi is the prominent language, the game goes by Kith-Kith, Stapu, and Langdi. In Bengal, it is known as Ekhaat Duhaat or Ekka Dukka. You can find kids in Maharashtra enjoying a game of Langdi Paani. The game is widely popular in South India and is known by the names Kunte Bille (Karnataka), Paandi (Tamil Nadu), Tokkudu Billa (Andra Pradesh and Telangana).

Traditionally, it is played by throwing a small object into numbered spaces (squares) and then hopping through it to recover the object. It can be played by a group of players or alone.

Alternatively, a small object like a rattler can be used which can be pushed by balancing on one foot only. (needs to be played on a smooth surface with slightly raised border for the rattler to slide easily)
(We avoid throwing the object and play the game as mentioned in session 4)

Play Session Plans:

Session 1: Getting familiar – Counting (forward and backward), spatial understanding

• Introduce players with the hopscotch squares by taking them one square at a time and allowing them to feel the border.
• Allow players to explore and understand the location of all the 10 squares by foot. Tell them wherever a square is divided into half, they would be able to rest both their feet at the same time. The numbers are counted as follows: 1, 2-3, 4, 5-6, 7, 8-9, 10
• Begin the session in the following manner:
• Square 1 – both feet together
• Square 2 and 3 – one foot in each square
• Square 4 – both feet together
• Square 5 and 6 – one foot in each square and so on until they reach Square 10.
• Turn back and follow the path in the same manner. Allow children to practice this until they are well familiar with the spaces.

Session 2: odd and even

• Make sure children are familiar with the position of all the squares.
• Ask children if they are familiar with odd-even. Recite the odd before starting the session. Practice telling the odd numbers backward as well. The numbers would be 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and reverse would be 9, 7, 5, 3, 1
• Now, ask them to stand only on the odd numbers and skip the even numbers. Turn back and follow the same path again.
• Once children get comfortable doing in this. Ask them to do the same with even numbers and skip the spaces with odd numbers. Recite the numbers orally before actually moving forward. The numbers would be 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and reverse would be 10, 8, 6, 4, 2.
• Help children follow the path with even numbers and trace them backward as well.

Session 3: Hop and rest

• Inform players that in this session they are going to trace the path by hopping on single squares and rest their foot wherever the squares are divided into two.
• Practice this several times until they are comfortable doing this without loosing their balance and at the same time, they are able to land on the correct square.

Session 4: Using a rattler

Once players are comfortable hopping on the squares, they would use a rattler in this session.

The player would push the rattler with one foot and apply a force enough to make sure it reaches the next square.

The player then hops through the squares and push the object again into the next square in chronological order. If the rattle is in the square which is divided into half the player is allowed to rest both the legs in the other half. For example, if the rattle is in number 2, the other half of which is 3, then the player would rest both the legs on 3.

The player continues till 10 and then turns around and retraces their journey hopping through squares until they reach the last square which is number 1.

Variations

The variation can be made in terms of the design of the layout. Another form of design can be by making the first 3 squares as single numbers and then double, followed by 2 singles then double again and finally number 10 as single. Example: 1, 2, 3, 4-5, 6, 7, 8-9, 10

Another variant, the players are expected to complete the sequence within a time limit (usually 2 – 3 minutes).