HOP TO IT! STREET GAMES FOR CHILDREN’S WEEK
Children’s Week in Australia is always in October. Children’s Week is a reminder about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, in which world leaders made a historic commitment to actively support the well-being of the world’s children. This website celebrates Article 31 of the Convention: ‘Children have the right to relax, play and to join in a wide range of leisure activities’.
At various times over past years, COVID-19 has affected the way we can play, but don’t worry – the games on this website can be played safely at any time.
Hop To It! Street Games for Children’s Week invites you to take part in a community activity that celebrates children through their play, and adds colour to your local street, as a sign that the spirit of play is alive and well! It’s free to join in, and you can play for as long as you like. All you have to do is draw a hopscotch on your footpath and play.
When you draw a Hopscotch design on the footpath it instantly becomes a community activity that belongs to everyone, so anyone can play until rain washes the chalk away. It’s a simple, familiar game – one player at a time, with everyone else standing back. That makes it ideal for a playful Children’s Week activity for families to share.
So you’re invited to Hop To It! and join in during Children’s Week (or any time)!
Here’s what you’ll need:
• Coloured chalk (large sticks of pavement chalk are best for drawing on footpaths)
• A playing piece (‘taw’) for each person to keep for themselves. (Something to throw into the numbered squares, like a flat stone, stick, piece of tanbark, broken tile or wood, small bean bag.)
• Hopscotch game sheets (available on this website) or remember how you played it at school
Here’s what to do:
1. Draw colourful Hopscotch designs and patterns on your footpath with chalk. (Some ideas are on this website or make up your own.)
2. Play Hopscotch with your family (and your friends and neighbours, depending on COVID-19 restrictions).
3. Take a photo of your Hopscotch design / your family playing the game.
4. Upload your jpg photos to the Hop To It! Street Games Facebook page or send as an attachment to hoptoit1020@gmail.com.
5. Look for your photos on this website during Children’s Week.
Visit the Hop To It! Street Games Facebook page for updates and news, or
Contact us at hoptoit1020@gmail.com
Hop To It! Street Games for Children’s Week is a community activity planned by Judy McKinty, Children’s Play Researcher, Folklorist and Play Australia Life Member. It is planned to run each year, during Childrens Week in October. (But you can keep playing Hopscotch as often as you like.)
Hop To It! 