Skip a stone five times
A 45-minute lesson at any calm lake or pond: how to pick stones, hold them, and throw low and flat until the skips start counting themselves.
- Time
- 45 min
- Cost
- $0
- Ages
- 5 and up
- Where
- Calm water
What you need
- 10–20 flat stones per kid, gathered where collecting is allowed
- A Coast Guard–approved life jacket for any kid who isn't a strong swimmer
- Shoes with grip. Banks get slick.
- A pocket to carry the best stone home
Water safety: read this first
- Arm's reach of any kid under 6, or any kid who can't swim, the whole time.
- Life jacket on weak swimmers near steep banks, docks, or moving water.
- Clear lane. Throw only when nobody, including boats, swimmers, anglers, and animals, is in front of you.
- Don't wade out to fetch stones or chase a good one.
- Never throw onto ice, and never step onto it.
- Follow posted rules. Some parks don't allow throwing or collecting rocks.
- Thunder? Leave the water and the shore right away.
Steps
- Find flat, calm water. Choose still water with a clear shoreline and nobody in the throwing lane.
- Pick the right stone. Flat, roughly round, palm-sized, about as thick as a cracker.
- Grip it like a letter C. Stone flat on the middle finger, thumb on top, index finger curled around the edge.
- Get low and sideways. Stand side-on to the water, knees bent, throwing hand near hip height.
- Throw flat and spin it. Sidearm throw, stone nearly flat with the front edge slightly up, about 20 degrees, snapping the index finger for spin.
- Read the splash and adjust. A plunk means too steep. One high bounce means too much tilt. Count skips and keep score.
Skips · best of five
Signed off: can do this.Signed by Date