An introduction to skipping games
Channel: British Library
Date: 2016-10-13

Skipping games with hoops can be traced back to the 16th century; while skipping games with ropes date back to the 18th century. These games can be melodic and lively, sociable, and sometimes competitive. Girls and boys may choose to play on their own, seeing how many ‘skips’ they can achieve without stumbling, or they may play with a long rope, inviting players in to skip while singing a particular song.

While not currently as popular as they were for previous generations, skipping games still hold a special place in the playground, and are enjoyed by children keen to demonstrate their speed and dexterity. A wide range of songs and rhymes may be chanted to accompany skipping moves. Perhaps most alluringly, skipping chants can offer children a glimpse of their futures. As one group of girls tells Iona Opie in 1972: ‘the two “enders” pick a boy for the skipper’, and based on how many times the girl jumps the rope they can predict ‘how many kisses’ the girl will give him (‘ten, twenty, you know’); ‘how many babies’ they’ll have together; the colour of their car ; and finally ‘what kind of house’ they’ll live in (a ‘bungalow, pig sty, house or palace’). One girl, confident of the rope’s clairvoyant abilities, concludes by telling Iona: ‘I usually end up with a palace…or a pig sty’. The versatility of play afforded by the skipping rope will no doubt ensure it remains popular in modern day playgrounds.
Introduction by Michael Rosen.

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