hopscotch

Everyday

Hopscotch is a children's game in which you throw a small stone or marker into numbered squares drawn on the ground, then hop and jump through the squares to pick it up. tree →

In the lessons

In playgrounds in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, hopscotch courts are painted or drawn with chalk. It helps balance and counting: children say the numbers as they hop. In maths lessons, a hopscotch grid can be used to practise number order and skip counting.

Examples

• We drew a hopscotch grid on the pavement with chalk. tree →
• In hopscotch you hop on one foot in the single squares. tree →
• I threw my stone onto square five. tree →
• She lost her balance and stepped on a line, so it was my turn. tree →
• Our playground has a hopscotch painted on it. tree →
• We played hopscotch counting in twos. tree →
• Some played at marbles, at hopscotch, at ball. tree →

Note

Uncountable as the game («play hopscotch»), but «a hopscotch» can mean the drawn grid. Comes from «hop» + «scotch» (an old word for a scratched line), not from Scotland.