How it works
Jump forwards about 30 cm with the feet together, then back to the same spot, like a rocking bell.
skip-hop tipAs with the slalom, a line on the floor helps.
Teach bells with the All-Access Skip Pass
Everything a teacher needs to teach this skill to a whole class, from skip-hop coach Lee Collinson-James:
- The skip-hop video of this skill, filmed from the side, with a feet close-up and ½× and ¼× slow motion
- Step-by-step teaching, from a line on the floor to a steady bell
- Spot the fault: jumping too far, with the fix
- A pupil self-check and links to the Blue and Bronze Awards
£149 a year for the whole school, or 6 months free with the whole-school rope set.
Where it fits
Bell: Blue Award and Bronze Award
Blue Award: Tricks
Part of the Blue Award test.
To pass, a pupil:
- Performs 4 beginner tricks (straddle, scissors, ex, slalom or bell), 4 skips each
- Skips 10 face to face with a partner in one rope
- Sets a 30-second score and beats it
Bronze Award
One of the ten Bronze Award skills.
The skills on this award:
- First: the Safety and Poise checks and the preliminary skips
- Bell
- Slalom
- Twister
- Side straddle
- Front straddle (scissors)
- Combined straddle
- Ex
- Wounded duck
- Side swing
- 180 degree turn
- Then the link: any 8 of the 10 skills linked in one routine, without a miss or error.
In the scheme of work
Where this skill is taught in the skip-hop scheme of work.
- LKS2Lesson 3: Ex, slalom and bellSkills and Tricks · Years 3 and 4
- LKS2Lesson 6: Award day: Blue and PurpleSkills and Tricks · Years 3 and 4
What you need
KS1 2.1m, KS2 2.5m or KS3 2.8m. skip-hop ropes are designed specifically for the skills shown on this site.
SEND and inclusion
Make it work for everyone
Ideas for pupils with SEND, and for anyone who finds bells hard. Change one thing at a time.
What usually makes it hard: Jumping forwards and back without losing the rope.
- SpaceA tape line across the skipper’s spot: front, back.
- TaskSmall jumps: about 30 cm is plenty, less is fine.
- CommunicationSay “front, back” with each jump.
Seated or no-jump version. Tap the feet forward and back on the footplates in time with a rope turned at the side.
An adapted pass is still a pass on the Skipping Awards. Use your own judgement and each pupil’s care plan. More in SEND and inclusion at skip-hop. Pupil struggling to get started? Try Lee’s tips for pupils who are struggling to skip.