Hopscotch

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Hopscotch is a wonderful hopping game that can be played on a bare patch of ground.

How to play and the rules
Use chalk to draw a hopscotch pattern on the ground. Create a diagram with 8 sections and number them 1 to 8. Each player has a marker such as a stone or beanbag.

The first player stands behind the starting line to toss their marker in square 1.

Hop over square 1 to square 2 and then continue hopping to square 8, turn around, and hop back again.

Pause in square 2 to pick up the marker, hop in square 1, and out. The next person repeats the same process. Then continue by tossing the stone in square 2 until square 8.

All hopping is done on one foot unless the hopscotch design is such that two squares are side-by-side. Then two feet can be placed down with one in each square. A player must always hop over any square where a maker has been placed.

A player is out if the marker fails to land in the proper square, the hopper steps on a line, the hopper looses balance when bending over to pick up the marker and puts a second hand or foot down, the hopper goes into a square where a marker is, or if a player puts two feet down in a single box. A player can only put both feet down when two squares are side-by-side.

Sometimes a dome-shaped "rest area" is added on one end of the hopscotch pattern where the player can rest for a second or two before hopping back through.