--- ---  # Watch This Cop Teach a Homeless Girl Hopscotch  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Apr 1, 2016 1:07 PM UTC  Huntington Beach Police Department  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Apr 1, 2016 1:07 PM UTC When a California cop came upon a homeless mother and daughter living out of their car, he found an adorable way to cheer the little girl up. While the other Huntington Beach Police officer on the scene talked to the mother about arranging housing, Officer Zach Pricer was left standing with the 11-year-old girl, [the Washington _Post_ reports](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/01/watch-a-middle-aged-cop-teach-an-11-year-old-homeless-girl-how-to-play-hopscotch/). Pricer[ explained to the Orange County _Register_](http://www.ocregister.com/articles/officer-710366-police-beach.html) why he decided to draw a hopscotch court: “For an 11-year-old girl, to see a police officer towering over her is a scary thing. I was trying to break the ice and get her to feel comfortable with me.” Watch the video above to see Pricer demonstrate his own hopscotch skills until the young girl joins him. Watch This Cop Teach a Homeless Girl Hopscotch ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4278990/police-officer-homeless-girl-hopscotch/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4278990/police-officer-homeless-girl-hopscotch/"},"headline":"Watch This Cop Teach a Homeless Girl Hopscotch","datePublished":"2016-04-01T13:07:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:31:18.412Z","description":"\"I was trying to break the ice\"","url":"https://time.com/4278990/police-officer-homeless-girl-hopscotch/","keywords":["Newsfeed","California","U.S."],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9f3c506a322ab8b/69888d54cf40a87480c42a02/police-hopscotch-homeless-girl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9f3c506a322ab8b/69888d54cf40a87480c42a02/police-hopscotch-homeless-girl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Police-Hopscotch-Homeless-Girl","caption":"Police Hopscotch homeless girl","creditText":"Huntington Beach Police Department","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4278990/police-officer-homeless-girl-hopscotch/","name":"Watch This Cop Teach a Homeless Girl Hopscotch"}}]}] ```