The informant drew a series of six boxes in a row, sharing a side with the next one. And the end of this row of boxes was a semi-circle. “So you draw this, and you throw like a piece of like a rock or something. And then you have to jump on one foot and then grab the rock throw it again while you’re still on one foot and then you go like that and like this (making his fingers jump on the drawing he made) and then you have to go back.”

The informant played this game when he was a child with his friend. It’s usually played outside on the dirt or sidewalk. He said that is was more of an elementary school game. The informant offered to talk about this game after hearing another person talk about his childhood games. When asked, people seem excited to talk about what they did for fun in their childhood. It probably brings back good memories, and we rarely get to revisit our childhood when we get older. Also, once people start talking about their childhood games, they don’t want to stop!

I grew up with a similar game, but we called it “Hop-Scotch”. It was essentially the same idea, although I never learned the “official” rules and never really knew how to play. I think it was waning in popularity when I reached elementary school. I never understood the point of the game, it seemed boring to hop about on one foot back and forth. However, the game does involve coordination, creativity, a little pressure to not mess up, and can be played with a group of kids, so it does have many of the aspects of a successful childhood game. This is another example of a simple game that appears in more than one country.