Hobbies And Interests
The Basics
All you need is a Chinese jump rope, which can be purchased at practically any store that sells children's toys, and as few as three people. Two people stand facing each other with the rope around their ankles. They then step away from each other until the rope is stretched between them---with an average sized rope, about 3 feet apart. There are now two jumping lines, parallel, stretched between the two end people. Each person should stand with her feet spread apart even with her hips.
A jumper can now jump "in," both feet landing inside the rope lines, "straddle-out," one foot landing on the outside of each rope, "side-by-side," one foot landing inside and one foot landing outside of one side of each rope at a time, "on," both feet landing on top of both ropes at the same time, "in" again, then "out," both feet landing outside of both ropes to one side.
There can be many variations to the "in--out--side-by-side--on--in--out" jumping pattern. They are the basic game steps and are usually accompanied by one or all people chanting the moves as a person jumps them. The jumper repeats the moves over and over, faster and faster, until he misses a step, jumps on a rope on the wrong move or misses a rope when attempting to jump on it.
Parties
Chinese jump ropes are inexpensive and can be handed out as favors at birthday parties or children's gatherings. Since there is no limit to how many people can play at one time, children can be broken up into even groups for a Chinese jump rope relay race or take turns jumping as one whole group.
For older children, the game can be made more challenging by having the two end people stretch the rope around their knees instead of their ankles. That makes jumping "on" the ropes much harder and is great exercise.
In the Classroom
Teachers can use Chinese jump rope not only as an exercise, but as a tool to teach memory and coordination. Specific jumping patterns can be created for the children to memorize and then exhibit for the class. Each student can make up her own jumping patterns to challenge classmates. Students will learn things such as teamwork and sportsmanship, along with building memory and coordination while having fun and being creative.
Children can string together a bunch of ropes to make one giant Chinese jump rope. Three or four students can jump at the same time as a team. Teams can compete to see who had the longest jumps or fewest misses in a set period of time, or even create routines to entertain the class.