Hip-hopscotch-hooray!

Game Origin

Hopscotch began in ancient Britain during the early Roman Empire. The original hopscotch courts were over 100 feet long! Can you imagine that? They were used for military training exercises.

"Hey, how bout a game of Hopscotch?" "Okay, but first I have to put my gear on! Hang a minute and wait for me?"

Roman foot soldiers ran the course in full armor and field packs, and it was thought that Hopscotch would improve their foot work. Roman children imitated the soldiers by drawing their own boards, and creating a scoring system, and "Hopscotch" spread through Europe. In France the game is called "Marelles", in Germany, "Templehupfen" (try saying that three times fast!) "Hinklebaan" in the Netherlands (probably played with Heineken beer cans), "Ekaria Dukaria" in India, "Pico" in Vietnam, and "Rayuela" in Argentina.

In order to begin the game, each player must start with a marker. Common stones were used in the days of the Roman Empire, but in more modern times, items such as bean bags, pennies, and other assorted items were used. Hopscotch boards were usually found in playgrounds, but if there weren't any, a good piece of chalk could easily remedy that.

How to Play Hopscotch

The first player tosses her marker into the first square. The marker must land completely within the designated square and without touching a line or bouncing out. If the marker lands in the wrong square, the player forfeits her turn. If the marker is successful, the player hops through the court beginning on square one. Side by side the squares are straddled, with the left foot landing in the left square, and the right foot landing in the right square. Single squares must be hopped on one foot. For the first single square, either foot may be used. Squares marked "Safe", "Home" or "Rest" are neutral squares, and may be hopped through in any manner without penalty.

When a player reaches the end of the court, she turns around and hops back through the court, moving through the squares in reverse order and stopping to pick up her marker on the way back. Upon successfully completing the sequence, the player continues his turn by tossing her 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 her balance, her turn ends. The player starts on her next turn where the player last left off. The first player to complete one course for every numbered square on the court wins the game.

Jacks

Eggs in the Basket, Toad in the Hole, Fivestones, Onesies, Abhadho. Who knew?

When I was a kid it was just jacks. Never questioned it, just did it. Toss the jacks in the air, toss the ball in the air, and pick them all up systematically. Let's not forget my double-jointed friend Fran who sat frog-legged in a sit/kneel/squat, toes pointed at either corner of the room, tongue maybe out a little bit, as she deftly played.

The Rules

Bearing in mind that there are many variations on this theme, here are the basic rules of jacks as I played it growing up in Queens, New York.

The game is played outdoors on a smooth surface such as asphalt or concrete, or indoors on an uncarpeted floor. There are usually anywhere from two to six individual players. Equipment includes 15 jacks and one small ball. Two players sit face to face; more than two sit in a circle. Deciding who goes first is optional, throws the jacks up in the air and trying to catch as many as possible with both hands together, thumb to thumb, palms down. Whoever catches the most jacks goes first. (This was usually the way we chose up because it was so much fun; in fact, it oftentimes became a pre-game game.)

The player up gathers all of the jacks in one hand, gives them a gentle toss and scatters them onto the ground, anywhere inside the space encircled by her and her opponents. Following that, she tosses the ball into the air. The object of the game is to pick up the designated number of jacks with one hand and catch the ball on the first bounce in that same hand. It starts with one jack at a time (onesies), then two jacks (twosies), right on up till the player misses. She continues at that number on her next turn. Then the next player goes. The game continues until someone succeeds at picking up the ball and all of the jacks at once on a single bounce. Frankly, though, I don't recall ever seeing anyone get past tensies. The unofficial rule, based on personal experience, is that whoever gets to the highest number before everyone gets tired of playing is the winner!

Jumping Rope: The Leaps That Know No Bounds

Two ropes are used in "double dutch".

When I was a small child my 30-something father, six and a half feet tall, cut an awesome figure in his long navy blue overcoat as he entered our courtyard on his way home from work in the evening. One who had never seen him before might have gasped as he approached, but we 5- and 6- and 7-year olds from the neighborhood broke into giggles. We knew what was coming, not just who, as we hiked ourselves up on tippy toe and turned that rope as high as we could get it. Even then, Dad would have to hold his coat up over his knees and bend over at the waist as he jumped (ne'er a miss) and sang his preamble to Teddy Bear: "My mother, your mother lived across the way, 2-4-6 East Broadway; every night they had a fight and this is what they'd say..."

Just goes to show you the joys of jump rope know no bounds of age, size or gender. It's fun, plain and simple, and has caught the attention of kids of all ages through the years. It is in fact considered by some an art form and by others a sport, as demonstrated by The Double Dutch Divas, a group of women in their 30s and 40s who travel around the world performing their art, as well as The Heartbeats, a team of school-aged kids from Ohio who compete nationally. Last but not least, there's a group of young folks from Texas who are into a different kind of hip hop.

The History of Jump Rope

Believe it or not, boys were the first to jump rope. Speculation has it, though, that as American families moved from rural areas to towns and cities, the girls got a handle on it, so to speak. With smooth pavements and more leisure time than their moms had back on the farm, they were able to put together the games and rhymes that we enjoyed as kids and passed on to our own kids. They seem almost precursors to soap operas with their never-ending, whimsical, over-the-top plots that point to youthful concerns and fantasies. Rhymes had not been very popular among the boys; they were more into fancy footwork, tricks and maneuvers like crossing over and double jumping.

The rules are simple and few. Jump rope is a cooperative effort. Grab an end and turn in sync with your buddy turning the other end. Start a song or rhyme and invite your friends to "jump in" to the beat — i.e., stay under the rope, keep jumping to the beat and then jump out when the song is over. Step on the rope and you're out. Double dutch uses two ropes and is indeed twice as hard yet twice as much fun.