Piko

Piko

Piko (also known as hopscotch)

P – opular game played in yards or alleys with several players or alone
I – t is played for one aim: To win a place to call one’s own
K – nown as kipkip, pikuba, laban and segking (in the Philippines)
O – n the ground is a drawn geometric figure, provided with 7 divisions

Origin
There are several stories of hopscotch being invented by Romans or Chinese

1677- First recorded reference to hopscotch
▪ The game is referred to as “Scotch- hoppers” in an entry of Poor Robin’s Almanack which states “The time when schoolboys should play at Scotch-hoppers”

1707 edition - “Lawyers and physicians have little to do, so they may (if they will) play at Scotch- hoppers”

Etymology
The etymology of piko is unclear. The Journal of the British Archaeological Association, Volume 26(dated March 9, 1870) states, “The sport of hopscotch is called in Yorkshire ‘Hop-score’ and in Suffolk ‘Scotch Hobby’, from the boy who gets on the player’s back while hopping or hicking”

Variants (forms of hopscotch played across the globe)
a. Iran- Laylay
▪ uses six or more side- by- side squares successively(vertically) numbered
▪ the player uses a peg or a flat stone that the player must kick to the next square as the player is hopping. If either the stone or a player’s foot lands on a line, the player forfeits the game (loses a turn)

b. Germany, Austria & Switzerland- Himmet and Holle (Heaven & Hell)
▪ The square below #1 or the 1 itself are Erde(Earth) while the second to last square is the Holle(Hell) and the last one is Himme (Heaven)
▪ The first player throws a small stone into the first square and then jumps to the square and must kick the stone to the next square and so on.

c. India- Stapu/ Kith-kith
d. Brazil- Amarelinha
e. Spain- Rayuela
f. Turkey- Sek-sek (Hop-hop)
g. Latin America(Columbia)- Golosa
h. Malaysia- Tengteng
i. Mexico- Bebeleche...