Hopping Chicken

Materials You Need: 10 sticks.  

What You Can Do Together: This game works well with teams of two, or two players going head-to-head. 

Start by choosing a good outdoor space to play – a park, common or garden. Ask the kids to collect 10 sticks for each team, ideally around 30cm long. 

If you’re playing indoors on a rainy day, why not see what you can use as an alternative to sticks? Paper straws or socks could do the trick! 

The kids should lay their sticks (or whichever items they’ve chosen) horizontally on the ground to look like the rungs of a ladder. The first player from each team hops over the sticks to the end of the ‘ladder’. 

They then pick up the last stick and carry it as they hop to the beginning again, where they can drop the stick on the floor to make a ‘completed’ pile. 

The players in each team take turns until all of the sticks have been collected, but if a player puts both feet down or touches the sticks with their feet, they’re out of the game! 

Whichever team finishes first or remains in the game the longest is the winner. 

If younger players find it too difficult to hop, get them to jump between the sticks instead. Only if they touch the sticks with their feet are, they out of the game. 

What Your Child is Learning:  Hopping chicken is a traditional Chinese game of speed, balance and determination. It proves popular with kids of all ages and can be enjoyed outside in the garden or inside on a rainy day!