How To Play Hopscotch

Hopscotch is a game that most of us have fond memories of playing. Here's how to get started.

Step 1: Continue playing by throwing the stone onto square two, and then square three. See how far you can get before you lose your turn.
Step 2: Put your marker in the missed square if you lose your balance or put both feet in a single square – you are out and lose your turn. Now it's the next player's turn.
Step 3: Keep playing until you’re hopped out!
FACT: The game of Hopscotch started as a training tool for Roman soldiers. They thought it would improve their footwork.
Step 4: Turn around at home base and start hopping back. On the return, stop on two and three to pick up the stone, and then hop on square one.
TIP: Always hop over the square with the stone.
TIP: If it’s raining, use masking tape to make boxes indoors.
Step 5: Draw a half-circle above squares eight and nine and write the word "Home" in it. This is home base, where you turn around to start back.
Step 6: Play with at least one other person. The first player throws the stone, also called a marker, on square one.
Step 7: Hop over square one and land with both feet on squares two and three. Hop on one foot to square four; then hop with two feet onto squares five and six. Continue this pattern until you reach square nine.
Step 8: With the chalk, draw a box big enough to hop into with one foot and write the number one in it. Above that, draw two similar boxes, side by side, numbered two and three. Continue alternating one box, then two boxes, until you have boxes numbering one through nine.