Teach your kiddo how to skip.
Learning how to skip is a HUGE rite of passage on the playground! Do you remember those endless hours practicing with rhymes either with friends or on your own. First we mastered the single rope than worked our way up to double Dutch. Those were the days.
I work with young kids on a daily basis and often see children who have difficulty with co-ordination. One of my favourite things to work on with them is skipping. Skipping targets so many of the developmental skills kids need to be successful in activity and in school- bilateral co-ordination, motor planning, coordination, jumping, strength and endurance, plus being able to do a double under is really kind of awesome!
Here are a few tips to help you teach your child to jump rope. Remember, not every child learns to jump rope at the same time. It’s like riding a bike, the more you practice the better you get!
hold the handles of the rope in each hand. Begin with the rope behind you.
swing the rope gently to the front of your body then to the back. Practice this several times just swinging the rope from the back to the front. Don’t jump yet.
Now swing the rope in front and let it stay on the ground. Keep the rope still and jump over it. Practice this step several times.
Now swing the rope to the front of your body and when it gets close JUMP! It takes practice to get the timing just right.
Once you get the hang of it, let’s try some fun jump rope games and rhymes so you can keep practicing. Here are a few cool finds…
HELICOPTER- One child starts holding on to one end of the rope and spins it around low to the ground, like a helicopter propeller. The other children must jump over the rope as it comes to them. If the rope hits their feet or they trip over it as they jump, they are out. The last one standing gets to be the new helicopter.
ZERO, 1, 2, 3- In this version of jump rope, less skilled jumpers get just as much rope time as their more skilled peers. Each player runs through the rope on their first turn, jumps once on their second turn, then jumps 3 times, and so on. When players miss a jump they re-do that number the next time through.
THE TEDDY BEAR GAME- this one is a favourite of kids who have mastered skipping and need a bit more of a challenge. For this game you will need a longer rope and 2 people to swing it while one person jumps.
SOME ROPE RHYMES
BIRDIE, BIRDIE IN THE SKY- birdie, birdie in the sky, Why’d you do that in my eye? Birdie, birdie in the sky, Gee I’m glad that cow’s don’t fly.
HAD A LITTLE SPORTS CAR- Had a little sportscar 248. Took it round the cooooooo (jumper hops out of the turning rope, runs around the corner and jumps back in). Ner and slammed on the brakes (jump rope turners stop turning). (Turners start turning again) Bumped into a lady, bumped into a man, bumped into a police man, man oh man, policeman caught me, put me in jail and all I had was ginger ale. Red, hot, chili pepper (rope turners turn rope faster and faster until jumper misses a jump.
Teddy bear, teddy bear, jump around (turn while jumping)
Teddy bear, teddy bear touch the ground (bend low before jumping up)
Teddy bear, teddy bear tie your shoes (touch your shoes before jumping up)
Teddy bear, teddy bear got the flu! (jump out of the rope)
Invent your own game! Use your imagination to create any jumping game you choose.
So get to work practicing those skills and share a picture with us (tag us on Facebook and Instagram), we can’t wait to see your mad new skills!!