Scotch-Hoppers

Children in England and Scotland play this game with a stone or a coin. Throw the stone into Box 1. Hop over Box 1 and through the pattern. On the way back, hop into Box 1, pick up the stone, and hop out. Then, toss the puck into Box 2, and so on. If your stone enters the wrong box, start over! The first player to throw the stone into each box and hop through the whole pattern wins.

Escargot

Escargot is the French word for “snail”. For this game, the pattern looks like a snail. No puck is used. Players hop through the pattern on one foot. You may rest in the center on both feet. After resting, hop back through the pattern and out. If you finish the pattern without stepping on a line, write your name in a space. No other player may land in that space. At the end, the player who owns the most spaces wins.

La Thunkuna

Children play this game in Bolivia, a country in South America. The puck is a stone or the peel from an orange. Instead of writing a number in each square, players write each day of the week. Throw the puck into the first box. Hop over it into the second box. Next, kick the puck backwards and out of the pattern. Then, hop out. On your next turn, throw the puck into the next space, and so on. The first player to hop all the way through wins.

Gat Fei Gei

In this Chinese version of hopscotch, the puck is a piece of roof tile. At the top is the pig’s head. Toss the puck into the pig’s head and hop through the pattern. When you reach boxes 7 and 8, spin around and pick up the puck from behind. If you hop through the pattern without making a mistake, pick a box and write your name in it. No one else can land in that box! The player who owns the most boxes wins.