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   Hopscotch by Betty Cookwell

Elementary Elementary    Hits 440 hits    E-mail Tell friends   

A boy playing hopscotch
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The children’s game of hopscotch is one of the most enjoyable legacies of the Roman Empire. Hopscotch owes its origins to the training of Roman soldiers. The original hopscotch courts were over 100 feet long! In every corner of the vast Roman Empire, foot soldiers in full gear ran through hopscotch courses to keep fit, improve agility and build up stamina. Roman generals used hopscotch to improve their soldiers’ ability to win hand-to-hand combat.




HopscotchRoman children, watching the soldiers’ training, imitated the soldiers’ strict regime. The children marked out their own courses and created their own scoring system. Roman children played hopscotch all the time. Hopscotch allowed every child to be a patriotic hero!

Today, children play hopscotch purely for fun. Children chalk out their hopscotch court on a pavement or garden patio. The arrangement of squares differs slightly from place to place. Most hopscotch courts use a series of boxes marked up with the numbers one to ten in numerical order. The rules are similar to those used by Roman children. Before each game, each player collects their own marker. The Romans used small stones. Today, children use coins, bottle tops or other markers.

The game starts with one player tossing the marker into the first numbered box. The marker must land in the box without touching a line or bouncing out. If the marker falls in the wrong box, bounces out or touches a line, the next player takes their go. When the marker is in the right box, the player hops and jumps into each of the other boxes – avoiding the one with the marker. For side by side squares, the player must straddle, with the left foot landing in the left square and the right foot landing in the right square. At the tenth box, the player turns around and hops back to the start, picking up their marker along the way.

 


GLOSSARY
  • Legacy - something that is passed down from one generation to another.
  • Combat - fighting during a war or in a battle.
  • Regime - a routine of planned exercise.
  • Patriotic - loyal; having strong feelings for one’s country.
  • Hop - to jump on one leg.


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