Boxing Day

Skipping rhymes

Skipping ropes are usually seen as children's play things, but they're actually so much more than that. For example, professional and amateur boxers use skip ropes to practise their footwork for a boxing match and keep fit, as skipping at high speed requires great reflexes, coordination and fitness. Skipping ropes are also used by fitness instructors in gymnasiums so that both men and women can work out with them.

Of course, skipping ropes are more commonly used by children in the playgrounds, but the skill levels required to use them are just as intense, especially as most skipping rhymes are designed to get faster as they go on, increasing the quantity of the skips required to complete them.

For example, skipping rhymes such as 'Johnny Got a Spanking' and 'Robin Hood' both ask the questions of how many spankings/kisses did the main skipper get, which is followed by a count from one. The skipper would then have to skip while the children holding the ropes (the turners) would count.

Another popular rhyme for use with a skip rope is 'Granny's in the Kitchen'. This involves many people jumping into the middle, one at a time, as 'Granny' is chased out of the kitchen by the Bogey Man.

Skipping rhymes continue to be used to this day with different variations on the old ones but the joy of skipping ropes will never die.Of course, skipping ropes are more commonly used by children in the playgrounds, but the skill levels required to use them are just as intense, especially as most skipping rhymes are designed to get faster as they go on, increasing the quantity of the skips required to complete them.

For example, skipping rhymes such as 'Johnny Got a Spanking' and 'Robin Hood' both ask the questions of how many spankings/kisses did the main skipper get, which is followed by a count from one. The skipper would then have to skip while the children holding the ropes (the turners) would count.