![]() There are dozens of variations, all of which derive from a surprising historical source: Hopscotch is said to have originated from training exercises for Roman legionnaires. They’ve stood the test of time.” Hopscotch “And my grandkids have come to love them. “We played so many of these games,” said Nancy Hesko, who grew up in Douglaston, Queens, and attended the same elementary school that I did (P.S. My favorites were from people who’d introduced these activities to a new generation of kids. When I posted in my neighborhood Facebook group for ideas on which games to include, I got hundreds of nostalgia-laden replies. To come up with this list, I polled folks I grew up with and then searched for modern variations. Now that you have your equipment, below are the games, as well as links to expanded how-tos. An 8.5-inch kickball might be a better option. Finally, the tennis-ball-sized spaldeen may be a little too small for pint-sized players. If you need beanbags, you can appropriate them from a cornhole set or, on a hot day, substitute water balloons (YES!). You can still buy from that manufacturer, though informal testing on our local stoop determined that the Pinky Ball was a little bouncier and denser. Another essential is a pink rubber ball, known to old-time New Yorkers as a “spaldeen” (argot for the Spalding brand name). These days, with isolation rules in place and summer camps closed, such pastimes remain a simple and special way to entertain your kids, whether you live in a brownstone, a suburban home with a big driveway, or a rural area with a nearby schoolyard.Įquipment is simple: Though sidewalk chalk has become a hot item in the era of pandemics and quarantines, with different varieties going in and out of stock, you can still find some with a little looking ( here’s our current pick, and here’s an alternative). Growing up in New York in the 1970s, my family moved around a lot-we lived in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and finally Queens-and wherever we went, there were sidewalk games, most of which required just a few sticks of chalk and a suitably bouncy rubber ball. “City youngsters who insist that pavements are best for playing games,” journalist Charles Grutzner writes, “have scored a point with the City Housing Authority.” The New York Times headline read “ Hopscotch Wins Place in Housing,” and the story, published in 1958, reported how local officials had agreed to remove so-called “improvements” put in place at public housing projects-shrubs, cobblestones, grassy margins-and lay down plain asphalt. It was a victory for the little people-and in this case, the winners really were little.
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