Jump Rope Stations That Kids Love

Let's jump PE Nation!

Today we map out engaging jump rope stations that scale from kindergarten to fifth grade, tie movement to heart health, and keep classes flowing with limited staff. From Chinese jump rope patterns to long rope timing, we share practical setups, cues, and safety tips you can use tomorrow.

• K–1 adaptations using floor shapes and simple jumps
• Chinese jump rope patterns with ankle to knee progressions
• single-rope zones for beginner, intermediate, advanced
• long rope entries, rhythm, and partner timing
• Jump Over the Brook for distance and power with safeguards
• Helicopter for quick, inclusive jumping games
• obstacle course options that teach heart health
• using task cards, volunteer roles, and rotation timing

Take care,

Dave

My podcast on my Ninja Leadership Program.

-Check out supersizedphysed.com for more resources, including free PDFs, articles, and courses to help with your PE program. Please leave a review to help grow this podcast and keep pushing our profession forward.

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-Free resources include Substack and Medium articles with PE tips, games, and strategies

Chapters

• 0:11 Welcome Back And Context
• 2:27 Why Jump Rope And When To Teach It
• 4:46 Adapting For K–1: Shapes And Basics
• 6:31 Chinese Jump Rope Patterns And Levels
• 9:24 Skill Progressions And Choice Setup
• 12:13 Station One: Single Rope Practice
• 15:16 Station Two: Long Rope Variations
• 18:11 Station Three: Jump Bands Creativity

Transcript

Why Jump Rope And When To Teach It

Adapting For K–1: Shapes And Basics

Chinese Jump Rope Patterns And Levels

Skill Progressions And Choice Setup

Station One: Single Rope Practice

Station Two: Long Rope Variations

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Hello and welcome to the Super Sides for Side podcast. My name is Dave, and today I'm going to talk jump roping stations. Yes, it's that time of year. Jump roping is fun for all, I hope. And we'll talk about it after this. So here we go. Welcome in, my friends from PE Nation. First, I want to say I'm sorry, I took a little break. Um, I haven't recorded a little bit, but it's been uh a much needed break, just physically, mentally, just trying to get some things done. I'm coaching my daughter's team again, flag football, so it's taken like a lot of time, and uh I just wanted to get an episode out there. Um I've been pretty consistent for about, I don't even know, seven or eight years, and I just need a little break. So I appreciate you being uh patient and uh just wanted you to know why. Um I definitely still love podcasting and creating. Um I haven't even done much writing lately. I just needed a break. I just that's just what it is. I need a break after my surgery, and uh I'm all good now. I just needed a I just need a break. So um, but I've been wanting to do this and I'm you know just glad to start back up again. So let's talk jump roping today. So now I know I have some listeners from other countries, which I appreciate. I mean, you don't you don't even know how much I appreciate that. And all over the not all over the world, I guess, but um, you know, a lot of places, and I I appreciate all of you. So let's talk just in general jump roping, but also if you're doing the Kids Heart Challenge, which used to be called Jump Rope for Heart, which we do, um, it's coming up. And uh actually in a couple days for me. And I want to go over the things I'm gonna be doing and some things you could do if you're gonna have stations or just in general jump roping skills. So, first, um again, I usually teach jump roping in uh like kind of like late January, early February, because we always do the Kids Heart Challenge around Valentine's Day, which uh as I'm recording this was uh yesterday. Yeah, it was two days ago, sorry, two days ago. Um and for the most part, kindergarten first grade, it's really hard to teach jump roping skills because they have a hard time getting over their heads, like when you swing the jump rope. So I do basic skills where we make shapes with the jump ropes, like hearts, because we're doing jump rope for heart or kids' heart challenge, whatever you call it. And we're doing, you know, they make letters with, you know, different things, different shapes, and they jump over them. So we're gonna jumping skills and just basic um skills as far as how we jump and the motions we make. And there's some really good resources out there that I'll uh kind of shout out some awesome physical educators like Ben Landers, has some really good jump roping uh station cards and things like that for uh kindergarten and first grade, like the younger boys and girls that uh can really struggle with jump roping. Plus, you know, I don't have um my jump ropes are kind of too large for kindergarten. So I do need to get some more uh just smaller ones, I think. And I have them kind of scrunch up their uh when they hold it, they kind of scrunch up the ropes a little bit so they it makes them a little smaller, but it's very, very difficult to do kindergarten first grade jump roping. It's it's not easy. And um, so check out some resources, um, just some videos and things like that to help you. So with the older kids, what I've been doing, and this is not the challenge, this this is just, and I'll go over that in a moment. This is the or the stations. This is just what I've been teaching them. First, I've been going through the Chinese jump rope or the jump bands, whatever you want to call them, and the different um patterns. So the first one is called the well, I believe the first one's called the American. I've seen it called a couple of different different things. And that's just the again, you can look these up online or I'll I'll put them in the show notes. There's a couple good videos out there of um, again, it's I believe it's called the American. It it's basically you start on one side with one foot in, one foot out, and you go, you hop across one, two, three, four, and then you go in, out, in, on. And that's just the basic one. And you could modify it to make it harder or easier. And there's different levels. The first level is at your um behind your ankles, and then the next one is your calves, like two people holding it, and the final one is behind your knees. And if you don't have Chinese jump ropes uh or jump bands, they are they're pretty inexpensive. They're you know, elastic, um not quite rubber bands, but they're uh in that style. Um, they stretch and they go behind, like again, two people facing each other, and they they hold it for the third person or more that want to jump. And there's a lot of different things you can do with that. Um, I also teach them what's called the Hornet, and there's another one called the Wildcat. So check those out on YouTube. I'll provide some links. Um, pretty good stuff. And they the kids love it. I did this with second, third, and fourth graders, and fifth graders will do it next week. I've just been doing the our annual chook ball tournament, so I haven't been I've been kind of skipping that with them because they've had it for a few years now. Just basically they've been doing Chinese jump ro for years, so I skipped it this year because of our tournament. However, again, even fourth graders enjoy it. Um, you know, sometimes I worry if they're like, oh, this is too, you know, whatever, I'm too old for this, or you know, some of the boys are like, no, but ever they they enjoyed it. It's a good challenge for them. They they really they really liked it. And after I saw them the first time for the jump bands, the second time around, we've been working on basic just jump opening skills. And what I've been doing is, and I've seen a lot of people do the martial arts belts, which I think is amazing, by the way. And check that out online if you haven't seen that, where they if they're a white belts, they have this many jumps and then they keep going and until they're like a black belt. I I think that's amazing. However, this year, if you uh if you've been listening, you know I started a leadership program, which is based on uh wristbands, and I don't want to get them confused. Like I'm a green belt in jump roping, but I'm a red belt in uh leadership or whatever. So I just decide not to do that. Instead, I have them in sections. I have uh kind of a level one section, and this they just they worked on their own. Level one is beginner, level two is media, like middle, obviously, and level three is you know, lots of tricks, and they can do double partner things, and and I have some task cards that I printed a long time ago from Connected PE, so shout out to Jared Robinson, that they can go through, they can look at these cards and oh, I could try this. So I have them in different sections and they have to work their way through if they want. And at the end, I give them a little free choice of long rope, uh, the regular rope that they've they've been doing, and uh the jump bands. So kind of uh little choices, but working on their skills. Okay, so now let's go through the stations coming up, and even some stations I'm not gonna do this year, but I have done in the past just because I only have three classes, so I only need three stations, really. But the different stations you can do, and I've done in the past with the kids' heart challenge. So let me number these off. Here's number one. All right, and if you don't know what these um the kids heart challenges, that's again, that's uh it's not a big deal. Just these are just stations. So we don't have to go go deep into that. It's uh it's raising money for the kids, the American Heart Association, and the kids get thank you gifts and all that stuff. So number one is just basic jump roping. So um I put out the jump ropes and they can they just practice. These are all about, I'd say, 10 to 12 minute stations. Um this year we have 50-minute classes, so I I can actually, I might go a little longer, but there's transition time and cleanup time. And so I'd say 12-minute stations, and especially if we're gonna do a little warm-up or a closing kind of thing. So um again, they just they go through their their stations or their this station um as in their levels, like the what like we've been doing. Now with the younger kids, the like K and one, um, they can practice and we're gonna have some parent volunteers, which will really help because um it's hard to get to all the little ones and and their needs. Um, but that's it's level one. I might I'm gonna put some uh hulloops out there as well, just because I want them moving and you know, just having a little extra thing to do if they're uh stuck and they're waiting for like a parent or a or a coach to help them. So uh level or station one is just uh you know basic jump roping and even partner jump roping, things like that with just a single jump rope where they can do different skills and work on that. So that's that's number one. All right, the second station is long rope, and this is where it definitely helps to have parent volunteers because well, especially with the little like K and one, because uh they can't we don't have coaches, it's just me and me and two coaches, and we have to be at each one, you know, one at each station. So it's too hard for us to uh swing the ropes for them. So having a parent volunteer, now the older kids can do it, but having a parent volunteer really helps, uh, and the kids love it. So just long rope skills, and we there are some other um like kind of like tricks and things you to do. I have those uh cue cards or you can look online. It's not just straight jump roping. Um you could just do regular long rope, um, but there's different patterns. There's different, I mean, I have the some of the the girls especially, but some of the boys, you know, it's singing different songs and things like that. So that is long rope. That is number two, and the kids love it. All right, the third one, as I said before, or I was talking about before, are the Chinese jump robes or jump bands. And you know, again, I'll have the uh the patterns written on the board and then go through the different uh things and take turns and different levels. So they're working on getting to level three with the different patterns, and it's again a lot of fun. They can even make up their own patterns. It's this is a um just a station that the the children enjoy and they could be creative with. So that is number three. All right, number four is a fan favorite. It is called Jump Over the Brook. This is one of the few things I remembered as a kid, but it's basically a long jump station, and the kids get in a couple lines and they try to see how far they can jump, and the stick keeps moving if they make it. If they don't make it, it's okay. They go in the other line and just repractice. Um, we've it it gets really um really competitive sometimes, and the kids love it. But my coach um eventually kept it at a certain spot because some kids were getting uh they were getting so into it, they're kind of getting hurt, they were jumping into and then like twisting their ankles, and so uh, but they they absolutely enjoy it. Uh, that's probably their favorite thing to do is a long basically a long jump station where the the stick just keeps moving if you make it. And again, I'd have another line going just so students aren't sitting there just watching and and doing nothing, but have a couple stations set up where they can practice. So that's long jump or jump over the brook. Number five is another fan, these are all fan favorites, helicopter. And I uh man, the kids love this. Even like kindergarten first and second, uh really all the grades love this. Um, I'm sure you probably know what this is, but you stand like in the middle of a circle and you have a jump rope with uh like I tied a like a wiffle ball to it, uh plastic ball, and it has to stay on the ground and you spin around and they have to jump over it. And if they well the way we play it, and the kids, the kids get it because these are fast games. If they get hit on the foot, they're out. Now you could play it where some some play it where then they're the holder, but um they have trouble. Some of the younger boys and girls have trouble um doing it without you know getting it too high or they're doing too fast. So um I do it and I kind of do it around myself so I'm not getting too dizzy. Like I'll do a little bit like like regular, but then I'll do it around. I wrap it around my um, I'll try to get around my the my back and then to my front again. I've also referred to it as the snake. So the snake's coming to get them, and I I don't know, just you could make it different themes and do different things with it. But the kids, uh the boys and girls really and like they just love helicopter. And yeah, um, especially if you get a couple um, again, parent volunteers that uh you you can get games going, like small games going at uh the same time. You could even have them, you know, no one has to get out. You could just do a thing where oh, you get you know three, you know, turn like if you get tagged three times, then you're out, or uh just in general, you just you're not out at all. But it's just having fun, um getting the jumping skills in, and they love helicopter. The final one that we'll talk about is just any kind of obstacle course. And if you want to check out my buddy uh Mike Graham, he has these amazing obstacle courses. Every time, every year he does the Kids Heart Challenge. Um, it's just amazing. The the all the things he has and the way he has it set up, and he has um students learn about going through the different parts of the heart and down into the lungs and just all sorts of stuff. So it's a good teaching moment. And if you but if you don't have the either the equipment, or in my case, I'm outside, so some of the things I don't do, or I don't have some of the equipment he has. I have some, like the Rally Art Obstacle course. Um, you could just do you know anything. You could add, you do hurdles, a ladder, stepping stones, tunnels, um, anything to step on, jump off, jump over. Those are all great for just working on your heart, talking about you know, that that kind of thing. Like you know, it's all about your heart and being healthy and um you know, working your heart as a muscle, uh, things like that. So any kind of obstacle course is just something the kids absolutely love. And that's number six. And now it's time for your cowbell tip of the day. All right, everybody. So your tip of the day is to just get some of these stations going. The kids really, really, really love uh any kind of jump roping, any kind of just hopping. Um, there's just so many different things you could do. If you have ball hoppers, by the way, that's another thing where they sit on a ball and they jump. There's bosu balls. That's actually what my Graham uses in part of his course, obstacle course. Um, the ones I'm gonna do this year, I'm not gonna bring out the obstacle course because they were just out not that long ago. The ones I'm gonna do this year, because I'm gonna do three, is the basic jump roping, uh kind of free jump roping stations along with the hulloops and uh maybe some uh balance boards, things like that. And that's the station one, station two will be long rope or Chinese jump rope, and station three will be the long jump. So those are the ones I'm going with this year, and actually, like as I'm looking at my notes, helicopter will be in that second one as well. So the second one will be a lot of uh again, because it's gonna be on our court. The first one's gonna be under our pavilion, which is not that big. So again, I'm gonna go back. It's Chinese, Chinese jump rope, long rope, and um helicopter will be one station. So I'm combining a bunch of things because I only have three coaches, including myself, and three classes. So that is what I'm gonna do, and I hope you enjoy uh jump roping with your kids. I've gotten better in my year years of jump roping. I tell them all the time I am a if I I'm a beginner in hula hooping, I still can't hula hoop. And I always say yet. Um, so I want them to have that mentality, that mindset. But jump roping, I'm probably right in the middle. I'm I'm good, I'm not great. So I I work with them, I show them, you know, how my skills are uh again, good, not great. And be be vulnerable like that. I mean, just you know, get in there, work with them, and you'll be surprised. I have some kids that are really, really good. And you know, they they they're teaching me how to do the tricks and things like that. So um, but yeah, that's that's all to be said. That's um enjoy it with your students, but definitely get it going. Don't be afraid of it. It's a great skill to have, it's a lifelong skill, and that is your cowbell tip of the day. Thank you everybody for tuning in today. I really do appreciate it. As always, go to supersizefized.com for more information and check out the links in the show notes with a lot of the things I've talked about today, some of the videos, some of the uh I have some articles, I have some different um podcast episodes, things like that. Check those out in the show notes. And with my second book finished, just has to be edited and published, which is gonna is gonna come out this year. Definitely check out my first book, and it's all about a like a narrative story of a teacher that was struggling and finds mentors to help him along the way, and you'll learn some valuable lessons in there. It's all my years of teaching uh in the classroom and teaching PE in a narrative form. So check that out. And with that, PE Nation, have a great day, week, weekend, whenever you're listening to this, and let's keep pushing our profession forward.