More Skipping Rope Games and Rhymes

Teach your children the fine art of jumping rope with the following games and rhymes.

Coffee and Tea

One person jumps in while chanting the following rhyme - I like coffee, I like tea, I'd like (name of next person in line) to come jump with me. The skipper calls out the name and the rhyme is repeated as they jump together. The second player then calls a third player to join in. The third player skips in while the first player skips out, and so on.

Pepper

The idea behind pepper is that the rope starts at a normal speed but at the call of "pepper" it turns faster and faster until the skipper misses. Here are a few different versions.

Mabel, Mabel, set the table.

Just as fast as you are able.

Don't forget the salt, sugar, vinegar, mustard

And red-hot PEPPER!

For these games, at PEPPER, players count until skipper misses. The number where they miss answers the question in the rhyme.

My little sister dressed in pink

Washed all the dishes in the sink.

How many dishes did she break? Pepper (counting 1,2,3,4, etc.)

Had a little sports car, (skipper calls out his/her birth year)

Went around the corner

Slammed on the brakes.

Policeman caught me, put me in jail.

All I drank was ginger ale

How many bottles did I drink? Pepper  (counting 1,2,3,4, etc.)

Notes:

• To go "around the corner" skipper jumps out and runs around a turner and jumps back in. Players drag out the word 'corner' until the skipper is back in.
• To slam on the brakes, skipper stops the rope between their legs.

A Note on Picking Rope Turners...

All players put one fist into the circle. The person who owns the rope chants the following rhyme, while tapping all other players' fists in succession to the beat of the song (including his/her own). The person tapped at "U" is the first rope turner. The rhyme is repeated to pick the second rope turner. The first person to mess up takes the place of the first turner, etc.

Icka bicka soda cracker

Icka bicka boo;

Icka bicka soda cracker

Out goes Y-O-U

By Rochelle Strauss