One Game, Many Versions: Mapping Family Variants
Each student interviews a family member about how they played hopscotch, jump rope or hide-and-seek as children and where. In class, the answers are grouped by game, the variants are pinned on a digital map and several are played to decide which rules make the game better.
How to play
- Homework beforehand: each student interviews a family member with a guide sheet (game name, place, decade, rules, songs) and brings it in; today, form groups by game (3 min).
- Each group compares its sheets, counts how many different variants there are and pins them on a shared digital map by place of origin (6 min).
- Each group picks three very different variants and sets them up on the ground with chalk or ropes (3 min).
- Station rotation: everyone plays each group's variants for 4 minutes per station (12 min).
- Vote: each group records which rule people liked most and writes the class version of its game, noting where each rule came from (6 min).
Rules
- Interviews are done with the family member's permission and without personal data: only first name or relationship, place and decade.
- In jump rope, anyone not jumping stays 6 feet from the rope.
- Each station is led by the group that set it up.
- Every version is respected: none is right or wrong.
Variations
Easier
The whole class researches one game and plays two variants.
Standard
Groups by game, a variant map, stations and a class version.
Harder
Each group adds a variant found in an outside source, such as a museum or a traditional games archive.
Adaptations
- Students without family available: interview a neighbor or a school staff member, or use a traditional games archive.
- Wheelchair user: in hopscotch, tosses the marker and rolls through the square; in jump rope, can turn the rope.
- Autism: takes the role of group mapmaker, with a clear task on the digital map.
Learning goals
- Research family play heritage through interviews.
- Compare variants of the same game and connect them to their geographic context.
- Agree on rules democratically and respectfully.
Equipment for a class of 25
- worksheets: 28
- chalk: 6
- ropes: 4
- tablets or phones: 6
Teacher tip
The digital map can be a simple collaborative map or a paper wall chart if devices aren't available. Let families know ahead of time that students will be interviewing them briefly.
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