Where can I find "regulation" measurements for marking playground games like hopscotch and four-square?

August 27, 2005 8:08 AM

Does anyone know where can I find free plans for marking games onto a playground surface? We're working on revamping the playground at my kid's school. We want to paint some games like hopscotch and four-square onto the surface but I'm having trouble finding standard measurements to do this. Does anyone have a suggestion or a link that would be helpful?
posted by ooklah to sports, hobbies, & recreation (4 answers total)

I would take a measuring tape and some graph paper to any other schools in the area and take notes on the dimensions of schoolyard games that way.

And whether or not you find plans, I would use masking tape to mark out the games before you paint and let the kids try it out. That way you'll know if the dimensions work before painting.
posted by id girl at 8:30 AM on August 27, 2005

Streetplay Rulesheets claims that the hopscotch squares are 18 inches. More here.
posted by Rhomboid at 8:44 AM on August 27, 2005

4-square is just not standardized. The only standard is "big enough", which can vary depending on the size of the players. 6' squares work fine (that is each of the four squares is 6x6, so the whole playing area is 12x12). As id girl says, do it with masking tape first, see how it goes, and adjust if necessary.

(One of my all-time favorite games to this day.)
posted by Wolfdog at 8:44 AM on August 27, 2005

Four-square can also be known as Boxball, and as such it can have anywhere from two to nine boxes (in a 3 x 3 grid). Might want to search on that.

That said, I hate to see another spontaneous expression of children's play become a manufactured, rigid adult-planned experience. Letting kids find the right corners and spaces for their games, letting kids size and re-size them for their ages and play styles and heights, and letting them customize their gaming would really be more interactive for them. You'd also avoid the risk that they might view these playspaces as limited commodities ("we wanted to play four-square, but the 6th graders took it over so we never get to play"...)

Why not just lay out a large, gorgeous, smooth area of blacktop and spend the rest of the budget on chalk?
posted by Miko at 12:22 PM on August 27, 2005