Skills to practice:
- Scissor jumps: Land with your left foot forward, jump, then switch to your right foot forward
- Cross jumps: Land with your legs crossed like an X, then jump and land with legs apart, jump again and cross legs again.
- Switch jumps: Land on just your left foot, jump, then switch and land on your right foot.
- Double under: Jump really high and swing the rope very fast so that it goes under your feet twice before landing.
Snake:
- Great for beginners: One person holds the jump rope on the ground and slithers it along the ground while the other person attempts to jump over the rope without landing on it.
Helicopter
- One person stands in the middle of a circle holding the rope while others stand several feet away. The person holding the jump rope turns around in circles with the rope a few inches off the ground. The other players stay in one spot and jump over the rope as it rotates and comes to them.
Water Splash:
- Go outside!
- While 2 friends turn the jump rope, one player in the middle jumps 10 times while holding a plastic cup of water.
- Take turns to see who is able to keep the most water in your cups.
Relay Race:
- Make an obstacle course and have a jump rope at the end. Racers must jump a certain number of times before finishing the course.
Partner jumping:
- Two jumpers use one rope to jump together. Both jumpers hold one end of the jump rope and turn it together and jump side by side.
Tightrope:
- Lay the jump rope on the ground in a straight (or curved) line and have players balance as they walk the tight-rope, heel-to-toe for the length of the rope.
Skip the alphabet:
- Jump the rope saying the letters of the alphabet out loud with each jump. Can you get through the entire alphabet?
- Variations could also be: Spelling a word, counting, days of the week, months of the year, etc.