This game is appropriate for children 3 to 5 years old. Divide the children into two groups, the grasshoppers and the giants. The grasshoppers squat and jump around the play area. The giants walk around the play area, using giant steps. If a grasshopper tags a giant, the roles are switched.
Grasshopper math can be played by children age 4 to 7 years old. You need 10 pieces of green construction paper, scissors, permanent marker and adhesive tape. Cut out large leaf shapes, the size of the size of a sheet of green construction paper. Draw veins on the leaves. Number the leaves, one to 10. Secure the leaves, in numerical order, to the floor with adhesive tape. Position leaf No. 1 about one child-size jump from the starting line. Position leaf No. 2 about two child-size jumps, and continue with leaves 3 through 10. Students will answer math questions by jumping the corresponding number of times to the correct leaf (three jumps to leaf No. 3, if the answer is 3). Four-year olds can answer questions about number recognition, including questions such as, "What number is one more than three?" Introduce simple addition, or subtraction problems, for older students.
This game can be adjusted to accommodate children age 5 to 12 years old by varying the difficulty of the grasshopper fact questions asked. You need a 10-inch by 10-inch piece of tag board or poster board for each child, ruler, permanent marker and 15 green plastic chips per child. Divide each game board into 2-inch by 2-inch squares. Mark the center square "Free", or draw a grasshopper in the center square. Write the answer to a grasshopper fact in each square, and vary the answers on each board. Ask the children a grasshopper fact. If a child has the answer on their bingo board, she should place a green chip on the answer. The first child to complete a row horizontally, vertically of diagonally is the winner.
Grasshopper Tiddlywinks is appropriate for children age 5 to10 years old. You need two green plastic chips (counters) per child, a 11-inch by 14-inch white poster board for every group of eight children, ruler, permanent markers, nine grasshopper stickers for each group of children, blackboard, chalk and a lid of from a ream box of paper for each group of children. Place the poster board lengthwise on the table. Divide the poster board into three equal rows. Divide each row into three equal rectangles. Place a grasshopper sticker (or drawing), and the point value, in each rectangle. Each rectangle in the top row is worth 15 points. The rectangles in the middle row are each worth 10 points, and the rectangles in the bottom row are worth five points. Place the box lid standing up behind the game board to catch stray chips. Optionally, decorate the inside of the box lid to coordinate with the grasshopper theme.
Ask the first child on each team to go to the blackboard. Ask the child an age-appropriate math question, or ask him to spell a word. If a child answers the question correctly, he gets to try to make a grasshopper (chip) land on one of the spaces on the game board. Award the teams the appropriate points.