Games with a Skipping Rope

Walk on the skipping rope

1. Place the skipping rope in a straight line on the ground.
2. Start at one end of the rope and walk forward on the rope to the other end.

Adjust this game by changing the way your child walks:

1. Walk heel-toe.
2. Walk backwards.
3. Walk sideways to the left and to the right.
4. Walk the length of the rope criss-crossing your feet from one side of the rope to the other.
5. Get down on your hands and knees, creep forward, keeping the rope between your hands and knees.
6. Walk like a dog (moving the opposite hand and foot at the same time), keeping the rope between your hands and feet.
7. Straddle the rope and squat. Hop like a bunny (move both hands first and then both feet).
8. Straddle the rope and squat. Jump like a frog (both hands and legs jumping simultaneously).
9. Walk like a bear (moving your left hand and leg first, then moving your right hand and leg).

Jump

1. Place the skipping rope in a straight line on the ground.
2. Jump forward with the rope between your legs.

Grade this game by jumping in different ways:

1. Jump backwards.
2. Jump to the end of the rope, landing on opposite sides of the rope with each jump. Keep your feet together.
3. Face sideways. Jump sideways back and forth over the rope.
4. Jump, make a half turn and land facing in the opposite direction.
5. Hop on your right (and then left) foot around the rope without touching it.
6. Skip around the rope without touching it.
7. Gallop around the rope without touching it.

Let your child stand approximately one meter from you.

Hold the one end of the skipping rope in your hand and swing the rope in a circle. When the rope reaches your child he/she has to jump over the rope with both feet together.

Change the activity by:

1. Swinging the rope faster.
2. Swinging the rope higher.

Let your child balance on one leg and jump over the rope with one leg.

Show me how you can:

1. Hold both ends of the rope in your right hand. Keep your elbow close to your waist. Turn the rope quickly forward so that the loop hits the ground alongside your right foot. (repeat with the left hand).
2. Change the rope from one hand to the other while turning it alongside your body. Keep the rope moving while you change hands.
3. Make the rope turn circles in front of your body (change the direction of the circle). Do this first with your right hand, then with your left hand.
4. Hold the rope with your right hand. Turn it above your head like a helicopter. Repeat with your left hand.
5. Hold the rope in your right hand. Turn it above your head four times, change to your left hand for four turns without stopping.
6. Turn the rope at your side. Keep turning the rope and jumping at the same time.
7. Hold the rope just in front of your feet. Jump back and forth over the rope without moving it.
8. Hold the rope several feet in front of you. Drag it toward your feet and jump it just before it reaches your toes.
9. Hold the rope behind your heels. Turn it over your head and catch it under your toes.
10. Turn the rope over your head. Drag it back toward your feet. Jump it just before it reaches your toes.
11. Turn the rope faster. Jump it one time only before it reaches your toes.

Practice jumping over the rope. First only one jump, then two and count the jumps, turning the rope and jump it without a miss as many times as you can.

Have a rope pulling contest.

Change the activity by letting your child sit on a smooth floor. Hold one end of the rope while your child holds the other end with both hands. Pull your child across the floor (alternatively you can tie the rope to a door handle and let your child pull him-/herself forward).

Place two chairs back to back. Tie the skipping rope (you may need two) to the chair legs. Let your child stand in the middle of the two ropes and jump a pattern. E.g. In, out (left foot left, right foot right outside the ropes), in, left (both feet left outside), right (both feet right outside the ropes), on (land on top of the skipping ropes).

Grade the activity by sliding the ropes higher each round.

Let your child and his/her brothers/sisters/friends stand in a group (it is more difficult if each child is facing a different direction). Tie them together with the skipping rope. The group has to move as one unit through and obstacle course.

1. Tie your child’s legs together with the rope. He/she has to walk like a soldier with stiff legs.
2. Three-legged race.
3. Tie your child’s legs together with the skipping rope. Hold a variation of a sack race by timing your child when he/she jump to the end of the corridor or driveway.

Tie a rope between two chairs.

Your child has to bend over backwards and crawl under the rope.

Move the rope a bit lower every time your child crawls underneath. When the rope gets too low, your child can walk like a crab.

Hand tennis.

Place the skipping rope in a straight line on the ground. Stand opposite your child, hitting a tennis ball with your hand to your child. Your child has to return the ball to you. Place the skipping rope in a circle on the ground. Place nine golf balls (ping pong balls) inside the circle. Use a coloured ball (or mark a plain one) for the cue ball. Give each player a stick. Use the stick like a real pool cue, sliding it along your hand to push the cue ball into a golf ball. The goal is to knock as many golf balls out of the circle as you can. If you knock a ball out, you get another turn. Whoever gets five balls out of the circle first wins.