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How to Teach Kids to Jump Rope

If you can remember when you were growing up, jumping rope wasn't an activity that most kids just automatically knew how to do--it took practice. Jumping rope isn't just fun; it can also help your child get aerobic exercise. You can use a simple step-by-step technique to teach a child, from preschooler to grade-schooler, to jump rope well.

Instructions

- 1
  Model jumping rope for them first. Jump as slowly as you can, and talk about each step you are taking while you're doing it.
- 2
  Explain to kids that they should use their wrists, rather than their whole arms, to move the rope. Let them practice doing this while holding onto only one end of the rope and watching how the rope moves accordingly.
- 3
  Show them how to hold the jump rope in the correct starting position, with one end of the rope in each hand, and the middle of the rope just touching the backs of their shoes. Make sure that they are standing with their feet slightly apart.
- 4
  Let kids practice a few times by swinging the rope in front of them and then jumping over it. This may seem disjointed at first, but it will teach them the basic concept of jumping rope.
- 5
  Encourage them to practice more and more until the swinging movement is more fluid and they can time the jumping correctly.

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