Hopscotch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hopscotch is a simple children's game which can be played with several players or alone. Hopscotch is often played on playgrounds by children.
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[edit] Court and rules
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[edit] The court (or course)
To play hopscotch, a course is first laid out. Traditionally, children have drawn the course in the dirt of a playground whenever needed, although it was often chalked on pavement when dirt was unavailable. Designs vary, but the course is usually composed of a series of linear squares interspersed with blocks of two lateral squares. Traditionally the course ends with a "safe" or "home" base in which the player may turn before completing the reverse trip. The home base may be a square, a rectangle, or a semicircle. The squares are then numbered in the sequence in which they are to be hopped.
DICK
[edit] Playing the game
The first player tosses the marker (typically a stone, coin or bean bag) into the first square. The marker must land completely within the designated square and without touching a line or bouncing out. The player then hops through the course, skipping the square with the marker in it. Single squares must be hopped on one foot. For the first single square, either foot may be used. Side by side squares are straddled, with the left foot landing in the left square, and the right foot landing in the right square. Optional squares marked "Safe", "Home", or "Rest" are neutral squares, and may be hopped through in any manner without penalty.
Upon successfully completing the sequence, the player continues the turn by tossing the marker into square number two, and repeating the pattern.
If while hopping through the court in either direction the player steps on a line, misses a square, or loses balance, the turn ends. Players begin their turns where they last left off. The first player to complete one course for every numbered square on the court wins the game.
Although the marker is most often picked up during the game, historically, in the boy's game, the marker was kicked sequentially back through the course on the return trip and then kicked out.
[edit] Origin
Hopscotch was invented by the Romans, probably in Britain during the early Empire. It was initially designed as a training regimen for Roman foot soldiers who ran the course in full armor and field packs, as it was thought this would improve their footwork.[citation needed]
[edit] Etymology
The word "hopscotch" is a compound of "hop" (short jump) and "scotch" (scratched line). Called "scotch-hoppers", the term dates back at least to 1677.[2]
However, "hop" and "skoč" (the same pronunciation as "scotch") also mean mean "jump" in Czech (also in Polish "skocz"). But the game itself is called panák (figure) in Czech.[citation needed]
[edit] Variants
There are many other forms of hopscotch played across the globe.[3] In Russia and Russian--speaking countries it is known as классики (diminutive for the word meaning classrooms). In Poland, it is called klasy, meaning classes. In Italy it is called campana (meaning bell), or mondo (meaning world). In Croatia it is called školica, meaning little school. In Malaysia the most popular variant is called tengteng. In Mexico, it is called bebeleche(mamaleche) meaning drink milk. In Romania the game is called şotron and is widely played by children all over the country.
[edit] Laylay
The game's generic name in Persian (Farsi) is Laylay. The most common form of Laylay in Iran resembles the older Western types and uses six or more (always an even number) side-by-side squares successively (vertically) numbered. The player uses a peg or a flat stone that the player must kick to the next square as the player is hopping. If either the stone or a player's foot lands on a line, the player forfeits the game (or loses a turn). Although somewhat less common, the contemporary Western type is also played.
[edit] Escargot
A French variant of hopscotch is known as Escargot (snail) or "La Marelle Ronde" (round hopscotch). It is played on a spiral course. Players must hop on one foot to the center of the spiral and back out again. A player marks one square with his or her initials, and from then on may place two feet in that square, while all other players must hop over it. The game ends when all squares are marked or no one can reach the center, and the winner is the player who "owns" the most squares.
[edit] Himmel und Hölle
In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland the game is called Himmel und Hölle (Heaven and Hell) although there are also some other names used, depending on the region. The square below 1 or the 1 itself are called Erde (Earth) while the second to last square is the Hölle (Hell) and the last one is Himmel (Heaven). The first player throws a small stone into the first square and then jumps to the square and must kick the stone to the next square and so on, howerver, the stone or the player cannot stop in Hell so they try to skip that square.
[edit] Puz
In Bosnia this is a well known children's game called Puz (Snail in English)[3]
[edit] Kith- Kith
In India, hopscotch is also called kith- kith or Ekhat-Dukhat (meaning one two houses) in the Hindi-speaking areas and chikkid-billa in Andhra Pradesh (Telugu-speaking state), chikkid meaning the chalk borders and billa meaning the Coin/ marker. It has similar principles in that players must hop on one foot and must throw the marker in the right square. This mostly is a girls' game in India, though some boys play them too.
[edit] Potsy
Hopscotch was/is called Potsy in New York City. [1]
[edit] World Record
The current Guiness Book of World Records holder for the fastest hopscotch game is Olympic gold-medalist Dan O'Brien, at 1 minute and 21 seconds. [4]
[edit] References
- ^ Beard, The Outdoor Handy Book, pp. 356-357.
- ^ Skeat, Notes on English Etymology, p. 136: "Hopscotch. The origin of this word, as the name of a game, is given by Brand, in his Popular Antiquities, ed. Ellis, ii. 440. [It was formerly called] Scotch-hoppers, which is the old name in Poor Robins' Almanack for 1677, where Poor Robin tells us 'the time whin school-boys should play as Scotch-hoppers.' [85; II.] Rightly derived, in N.E.D., from scotch, an incised line or scratch."
- ^ a b Lankford, Mary T.; Karen Dugan (1992). Hopscotch Around the World. New York: William Morrow. ISBN 0-688-14745-3.
- ^ "Crayola Outdoor Challenge". http://www.crayola.com/outdoor/.
[edit] Bibliography
- Beard, D.C. The Outdoor Handy Book: For the Playground, Field, and Forest. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons (1907).
- Skeat, Walter W. Notes on English Etymology: Chiefly Reprinted from the Transactions of the Philological Society. Oxford: The Clarendon Press (1901).
