Early Years Skipping Unit: Ready, Steady, Jump!
Six playful sessions for Reception that build the jumping, balance and rhythm children need before they turn a rope of their own, working towards the White and Yellow Awards.
This unit works towards
Every lesson practises award skills, and lesson 6 is an award day that opens the assessment pages and prints certificates. Children who are ready can move on to the next award at any time.
By the end of the unit, pupils can
- Walk along and jump over a rope on the floor, landing softly
- Hop and balance on one leg
- Jump over a wiggling rope without touching it
- Run under a turning long rope (Under the Moon)
- Hold their own rope, swing it over and jump it
EYFS Physical Development
- Move energetically: running, jumping, hopping and skipping
- Show strength, balance and coordination
- Negotiate space safely, with awareness of others
- Develop confidence, persistence and turn taking
The revised National Curriculum is due to be published in spring 2027 for first teaching in September 2028. We will update these links when it is.
Pupils who are struggling to skip
For Reception children who are still learning, and pupils with SEND, skip-hop coach Lee Collinson-James uses face-to-face partner skipping: you turn the rope, they just jump. Read Lee’s tips.
The lessons
The full interactive lessons are part of the All-Access Skip Pass. The skill pages are free to everyone.
Rope roads
Ropes laid on the floor as roads and tightropes: walking along them, jumping over them and landing softly.
Jump the river
Two ropes as a river that gets wider: jumping from two feet to two feet, then hopping on one leg.
Wiggly worms and waves
Jumping over a long rope that wiggles like a worm along the floor and ripples like a wave.
Under the Moon
Running under a turning long rope without touching it, then standing inside it: the first steps to long rope skipping.
Award day: White and Yellow Award day
A circuit of everything from the unit, run as the second assessment session for the White and Yellow Awards, then certificates.
How the lessons cover the awards
| Award | What pupils show | L1 | L2 | L3 | L4 | L5 | L6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | Walks along a rope laid on the floor without stepping off | A | |||||
| White | Jumps over a still rope with two feet and lands softly | A | |||||
| White | Jumps over a wriggling rope (Wiggly Worm) without touching it | A | |||||
| White | Can do 5 soft landing bounces (jumps) | A | |||||
| Yellow | Runs under a turning long rope (Under the Moon) | A | |||||
| Yellow | Hops five times on each leg (without a rope) | A | |||||
| Yellow | Holds the handles of their own rope and swings it over the head | A | |||||
| Yellow | Swings, stops and jumps their own rope 5 times (not continuous skipping) | A |
● practised in that lesson · A assessed on the award day. Pupils pass when they show every skill with control on two different days, so the earlier lessons count as the first session.
Ropes for this unit
Floor ropes, a 4.5 m rope and own ropes (2.1 m or shorter).
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