Hop, skip and jump!Guess what we just described?Three of your kids’ favourite activities!During the wonder years of childhood, kids can be extremely active. We are talking hopped up on sugar, super curious, always exploratory-active!
Now that is a lot to handle, to be fair. You need a way to channel all that energy your kid has into something that they like. Like hopping, skipping and jumping. With a rope!
Jump rope games can be a whole lot of fun for your kids! And for you too because these are inexpensive, do not require a lot of space and are actually suitable for kids of all ages and skill sets. There really is something for everybody with jump ropes!
Do not believe us? This list of engaging jump rope games will convince you!
- Single rope games
- Scissor jumps
- Cross jumps
- Duckie
- Swing, swing
- Rhyme along with your jump ropes
- Snake rope
- Banana split rope
- Partner jump rope
- Splash rope
- Relay with a jump rope
- Cat and mouse jump rope
- Jump rope competition
For single kids, there are a lot of one-man rope shows they can pull off all by themselves! Like these:
“You put your left hand in,
You put your right hand down”
Remember the song ‘Do the boogie woogie’? Well, that could be the perfect jump rope game song for this one! Because the scissor jump involves switching the foot you land on with every turn!
Kind of similar scissor jumps, in this one your kid has to alternate between landings with parallel legs and crossed legs.
For this jump rope game, get your kid to land apart on their heels. Their knees and toes should be pointed in like a cute little duck’s. And in the next turn, they should land in the exact opposite way of this, mimicking a duck’s adorable waddle.
While jumping rope, ask your kid to swing one leg out the other way and land on the other feet. Ask them to keep alternating legs and they will be giggling and laughing trying this one out.
This is another way to incorporate jump rope game songs into play! Think of it as learning rhymes made super duper fun.
From Cinderella to Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, you can play some rhymes kids jump up and down with the rope. Playing rhymes in the background will improve your kids’ retention of them. Plus, it will get their little feet tapping to the music, thus teaching them the skill of synchronisation. Which is a win-win!
If your kid does not know how to jump rope yet, snake rope can be a fun way to introduce them to this happy little sport. For snake rope, two people hold one end each of the rope and lay it flat on the ground. Then the person who is supposed to skip, let us call them skipper, comes to jump over the rope but the other people keep moving in a way fashion, like a snake sneaking around!
Believe it or not, this type of jump rope game does not involve any jumping at all! All players need to do is pay attention to when the rope swings each time. So make sure you get one of those really long ropes. And at least three kids for this activity as two of them would have to hold the rope on each end again like in snake rope! The more the merrier though!
Now get the other kids in line and get the turners on the side to hold the rope high and swing them forward and backward. Each kid must try to pass under the rope without touching it. Those who touch it are out of the game!
Not to sound cliche but it truly is double the fun when it comes to games to play with a jump rope! Just get two kids facing each other with one of them having control of the rope. The movement is the same as your standard jump rope, only now the kid holding the rope crosses it over their partner’s head as well, swinging it under their feet so both of them can jump together! Kids can up the pace when they get a hang of it to have some extra fun!
Forget about doing this indoors! This type of jump rope game is best played outside. Not just because it is fun out, but also because it can get a little messy. And moms, we know you would not want to do some extra cleaning after game time.
Okay as for the rules, get two kids to turn the rope and have the skipper hold a cup of clear water in one hand as they jump the rope. They must jump the rope a fixed number of times before all the water in the cup runs out! Have kids take turns so they can keep score and see who aces this fun game!
If you have a lot of kids over for a vacay get-together or a party, you can try out the jump rope relay as a fun party game. You can divide the kids up into two groups, set up a finish line and have a competition about which group finishes getting to the finish line faster. If you want to up the ante, you can add hurdles to the race. Just make sure the hurdles you choose are age appropriate.
Four kids. That is how many of them you need to carry out this game to play with a jump rope! The rope can be laid flat on the floor with two turners swinging it like a snake on each side. The mouse jumps over the rope and the cat tries to catch and tag it. And that is it! Kids can keep taking turns to have hours of endless fun.
Finally, if you want to keep it simple, just make it kids have a jump rope competition! Like say musical chairs but with jump rope in which kids have to keep jumping a fixed number of times before the music turns off. It is easy and fun!
See how fun jump rope activities can be! Not only are they great for holidays, but they also make for incredibly fun party games! At EuroKids, we teach our kids to play fun, physically active games, so they can practise their coordination skills and have some good old outdoors fun without a care in the world. Interested in knowing more about the approach we take to preschool education? Visit us at any one of our school branches!
