P.E. Kindergarten Jump Rope Lesson

Special Note:  Mr. Joe Gietzen began working with us today!  He is my student teacher for this semester and will be working with me until May!  He is from Aquinas College. 

Kindergarten Jump Rope Lesson:
Day 1 and 2

Jumping Rope is a tough skill to learn for most Kindergarten children.  Before teaching my students how to jump with the rope, I always begin with a variety of other activities to show them there are many things to do with jump ropes besides just jumping over it!

1)  Students laid their ropes in a straight line and walked on it like it was a balance beam.  Then we made curvy lines and walked forwards and backwards on it.  We also practiced jumping over the rope with two feet while it was on the floor.

2)  Students used their ropes to make shapes on the floor.  They made circles, squares, triangles, ovals, hearts, etc.  After they made each shape I told them to jump in and out of their shape. 

3)  Students worked individually and with groups to make letters on the floor.

Scroll down to see #4 below the pictures.....

4)  On Day 2 of our jump rope unit, we learned the cue words for the horizontal jump.  I use the posters from the EPEC curriculum which are "READY, CROUCH, JUMP, LAND".  We practiced jumping with feet together using that good form.

5)  The next activity with the ropes was to hold the handles so that the rope is in FRONT of your feet.  I had the students use that good jumping form to crouch (bend knees) and jump over their ropes with out having to twirl it over their head yet.

6)  Lastly, I taught the kids how to twirl the rope over their heads.  First we practice the arm motion WITHOUT using a rope yet.  My cue words are "ready, down and over your head".  Ready mean arms are stretched out in front of your body (holding pretend rope), Down means you push your hands down towards the floor, Over your head means to twirl the rope over your head.   I was VERY impressed with how well the kids did! 

7)  For the last 5 minutes of class we played a jumping game (without ropes) called "Sleeping Giants".  It was so much fun and a great way for kids to practice their jumping skills.  See movie below.....

Here is a video of a new warm-up game we played today called "Speedway".

Note to PE teachers - I highly recommend "Rene Bibaud's jump rope DVDs".  Especially for teaching upper elementary jump rope skills.