This activity promotes development and learning by encouraging children to demonstrate an understanding of number names, order, and quantity and use large muscles to move and balance own body.
Materials Needed:
- Flat surface
- Chalk
- Small stone or bean bag
Participants: This activity is intended for independent play or for 1-2 players. This activity may require 10 minutes of preparation by an adult for younger school-agers.
Directions:
- Help your child draw a hopscotch path, with boxes big enough to hop on in single rows, double and triple rows. Draw at least 20 boxes if space allows.
- Decide if you would like to practice skip counting (rather than counting by ones, have the child count by 2s, or 5s, for example). Start filling in the hopscotch path with the skip counting numbers (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, etc.). Add some incorrect numbers into the path to create choices.
- Start at the beginning and allow your child to hop on the squares while practicing skip counting. For an added challenge, toss the rock onto a square and your child must skip count forward or backward from there.
Variation: If playing inside, tape paper with numbers to the floor in a hopscotch path and play as directed. Be sure papers are well taped to prevent tripping.
