Hopscotch
The game of hopscotch provides great counting practice, both forward and backward. Copy this design, or use a simpler one. Use chalk if outside, or masking or painter’s tape if inside.
- Throw a marker into the first square. If it lands on a line, or outside the square, you lose your turn and you pass the marker to the next player.
- Hop on one foot into the first empty square, and then every subsequent empty square. Skip the one your marker is on.
- At the pairs (4-5 and 7-8), jump with both feet.
- At 10, hop with both feet, turn around, and head back toward the start.
5. When you reach the marked square again, pick up the marker—on one foot!—and keep going.
6. If you finished without any mistakes, pass the marker to the next player. On your next turn, throw the marker to the next number.
7. If you fall, jump outside the lines, or miss a square or the marker, you lose your turn and must repeat the same number on your next turn. Whoever reaches 10 first, wins.
Simpler variations
For younger children, relax many of the rules and replace hopping with stepping. Also, use a jumping pattern with fewer squares, perhaps as simple as having the numbers from1to5infivesquaresinarow.
Helping your Child
First and foremost, playing math games should be fun, like any other game your family plays together!
Please let your child make poor plays (mistakes) without correction, and resist the urge to tell them the best ways to play. Bit by bit, your child will get better at the game, and they will learn so much more if you let them figure things out. There is no hurry.
If you see your child make a mistake, ask them to describe why they decided to do what they did. If your child is stuck and doesn’t know which play to make, ask them to describe the pros and cons of their choices, or ask them about how they solved a similar situation in the past. If your child doesn’t remember how to do a calculation, discuss with them the methods they know for figuring it out. These conversations are important for helping your child to develop mathematically.
Through math game play and math conversations, you are helping your child learn to enjoy math and develop important problem solving skills.