Jump Rope

Did you know that your child can start learning the movement patterns involved in swinging a rope and jumping as young as 3 years old?

Last week we started to learn the basic jump rope skills in the ECC, and got fancy with double jumps, and crossovers in the Primary and Intermediate levels. There was a wide range of ability, but overall the kids were extremely enthusiastic and hard working while they either tried to learn or improve their jump rope skills.

To assist your child in learning and/or practicing jump rope at home, try using these words/phrases:

“Hold your rope by both handles in front of your body with thumbs on top pointing down.”
“Make sure that the middle of the rope is flat on the floor.”
“Step over your rope”
“Bend your elbows up to your ears”
“Move your arms forward and swing the rope over your head”
“Let the rope hit the floor”
“Jump over the rope, take off and land on two feet.”

Ask your child not to jump while the rope is in the air. Children will sometimes do this and lose their balance. The rope should strike the floor in front of the child before the child jumps. Children learning to jump need to jump off two feet and land on two feet to help them stay on balance.

In as little as five minutes a day your child can develop the skills to jump rope and build the self confidence and desire to want to turn off the video game and go outside and play. Whatever the skill or physical activity, from throwing a ball to jumping rope, the most important ingredient needed to help your child develop a foundation of physical skills is for you to set aside time each day to play with your child. Have fun jumping rope!


Here are some of my favorite facts about jump rope:


Burn baby, Burn!
Jumping rope can burn up to 1000 calories per hour, making it one of the most efficient ENERGY OUT possibilities. Jumping rope for just 10 minutes at 120 bpm burns 100 calories! Jumping rope for 10 minutes is also a cardio equivalent to running an 8/min mile – test it out, you tell us if jumping for 10 was less impactful for your joints and knees.

Build muscle with ropes
A jump rope is an inexpensive, easy, and fun way to get your child moving, and can be done almost anywhere! In the upcoming winter months when its too cold to go outside, an open space in your house is all you need! Jumping rope tones muscles in the entire body. It helps to develop muscles in all major muscle groups, both upper and lower. Jumping rope also optimizes cardiovascular conditioning and maximizes athletic skills by combining coordination, agility, timing, and endurance.

Good bones and happy bodies
Jumping rope strengthens bones by stressing the skeletal system. And because you hop only a few inches off the ground and your feet easily absorb the impact, it's gentle on the joints. Jumping in general has been proven to cause people to feel “happy” and has been known to cause many smiles on those who practice it.

HAPPY JUMPING!