Skipping, the exercise that has it all, ropes in a new generation

Remember the long ropes you used as kids to chants of “I like coffee, I like tea, I like Susan in with me”? Well, they’re alive and skipping.

Skip-Hop is an initiative of Lee Collinson-James that has operated in Ireland since 2003. Back then his offer to 150 schools of free skipping workshops met with just three replies; last year he visited 200 schools nationwide bringing this fun exercise to the school yard.

The health benefits of skipping are well known to athletes and boxers as it can burn up to 900 calories per hour and the National Osteoporosis Society in the UK acknowledges skipping as a weight-bearing exercise beneficial in the prevention of osteoporosis.

Collinson-James says that skipping is also a great all-body exercise that employs both the upper and lower body. It’s a great cardio exercise too and is, he says, “brain gym”, in that it develops hand-eye co-ordination and a sense of rhythm and timing.

As a former professional musician, rhythm is a teaching aid Collinson-James employs in his workshops. He teaches children from junior infants upwards, in schools of all sizes and with children of varying ability. Using rubberised plastic ropes, they learn basic rope-turning and then more complex routines such as long-rope skipping, Double Dutch (using two ropes) and partner skipping.

Hidden talents
While it is ultimately about fitness, the workshops are great fun and often result in the revelation of surprising hidden talents. "Skipping is a really inclusive activity," says Collinson-James, "It can be a great boost for the confidence of kids who perhaps don't always get picked for football or struggle with lessons. The confidence of these children goes through the roof when they realise that they can do it and that they can do it in front of the whole school."

Siobhán Fenton is literacy co-ordinator at Milford National School in Castletroy, Co Limerick, which recently took an innovative approach to employing the services of Skip-Hop by combining literary goals with skipping.

As part of a fundraising effort for the school gym, the school established a "ReadOlympics", setting reading targets for each pupil. With the support of its local Credit Union, the school purchased a rope for every child who then earns their rope by reaching their reading (not any financial) target. They also set class targets, so the students encourage each other to attain their reading goals in order for their class to earn long skipping ropes.

Inclusive activity

Fenton believes that the Skip-Hop days were two of the happiest she’s seen this year at school and that it is an inclusive activity that allowed the children to participate and to succeed. Fenton says the skipping appealed to both girls and boys of all ages as it is skills-based and relevant to children of almost all abilities. “If you can jump, you can skip. Nobody gave up – they all experienced a level of success that made them want to keep on doing it.”

Fenton says the skipping ropes have now become badges of honour around the school and that while the school already incorporates skipping into its occupational therapy and athletics programmes, she would like to see every child in the school carry a skipping rope in their bag.

One of the best aspects of Skip-Hop for Fenton was, she says, the “spontaneous admiration” the children had for each other during the end-of-day demonstration. “It was great to see the children recognising the achievements of their peers.”

Skip-Hop workshops cost €275 per day for groups of less than 90 children. For schools of 91- 121 children the price is €3 per child. For 122- 175 children, the cost is € 2.50 per pupil and for 175 kids plus it’s €2 each. See skip-hop.co.uk