Hopscotch

Activity Overview

Hopscotch is a fun and dynamic way to strengthen the gross motor muscles, while also providing a space to practice spatial awareness, balance, and agility through changing speed and motion. This activity is meant to be done repeatedly and can be changed easily to accommodate children as they are able to gain control and build that strength.

What You Need

• Sidewalk chalk (for outside)

• Painter’s tape (for inside)

• Hopscotch Markers (use a rock or Lego or make your own using this fine motor activity!)

• Hopscotch Layouts (or blueprint your own design first with drawing materials and paper!)

Steps

1. To play hopscotch, a player throws their marker onto the playing surface. They then hop or jump through the course on one or two feet (depending on the layout), to retrieve the marker. From here they turn around and hop or jump back to their starting place.

2. Explain to your student how hopscotch is played. Tell the child that hopscotch is a game in which a child can jump or hop on one or two feet through a series of shapes. The goal of the game is to retrieve their “marker” while maintaining their balance.

3. Use these hopscotch layouts, or design one of your own! Make it as simple or challenging as you desire. Use sidewalk chalk to draw your layout outdoors, or use painters tape if you are indoors.

4. Demonstrate to your student how to hop on one and two feet. Show off your skills and give them a model of what proper form while hopping and jumping looks like! Begin slowly and hold the pose so that students can mimic your movements.

5. Demonstrate how the game works by throwing your hopscotch marker out onto the playing surface. Hop out, retrieve the marker, and return to your starting spot.

6. Let the children play!

Guiding Questions

• What do we want our hopscotch game to look like? How many boxes will it have?

• What shape should our boxes be? What color?

• Should we put numbers in our boxes? Should we draw pictures in them?

Extensions

• Change the shapes in the layout, the colors, and add numbers to each box. Have the students shout out the numbers, shapes, and colors as they jump from spot to spot (If you are inside, use paper to do your work on and tape it into the center of the box).

• Create areas where the students have to jump over an object or one of the boxes to add a balance and power challenge to the lesson.

• With adult supervision, have students jump or hop backwards or with their eyes closed.