Girls' Playground Games

Hopscotch

• To play hopscotch, you must first draw out the grid with a piece of sidewalk chalk. The grid is a series of boxes with the numbers 1-10, and they are laid out in a distinct fashion (See "How to Play Hopscotch" under resources below for an image of the layout). Each player should have a rock that will be used as a marker. The first player tosses her marker on square number one. If she misses the block, her turn is over. If she makes it, she must then hop from number two to 10, skipping number one because that is where her marker is. The journey to ten is made in order, with a single foot in each numbered area.

  When the player reaches the number 10, she must turn around and make her way back. She needs to stop on the number 2 square to retrieve her marker. Once she makes it out of the grid, her turn is over. If she lost her balance, forgot to skip the area where her market was tossed, or forgot to pick up her marker on the way back, she must repeat the previous turn before advancing.

  Play continues until someone tosses her marker into the area with the number 10 and completes her turn successfully.

Tag

• When tag begins, someone must be designated as "it." This girl should chase the other players and try to tag them with her hand. Once she tags someone, they become "it," and know have the duty to tag another player. There is no winner in the game of tag, and play is continued until all players are tired.

Duck, Duck, Goose

• Players sit in a wide circle to begin this game. One person begins play by walking around the circle, tapping the other players on the head and saying "duck" on each one. When the player decides to have someone chase them, they will touch the player&'s head and call out "goose!" The player that was touched will stand up and try to tag the tapper before she runs around the circle and takes the empty seat.

  If the "goose" tags the the player successfully, the original tapper must be the tapper again. If she does not tag her before she sits down, the "goose" becomes the tapper for the next round.

Skipping Rope

• Two girls each hold an end of a long rope and swing it in a circular motion. A third girl stands between the rope holders, jumping over the rope as it comes down toward the ground. There are many rhymes that can be sung while skipping rope, including "Miss Mary Mack" and "Cinderella" (see "Jump Rope Rhymes" under resources below for the words to these and many other rhymes).