Also called Butterfly skipping
How it works
Two or more skippers, each with a rope, stand side by side and swap handles with the person next to them. Someone counts them in and they skip together, ropes rising and falling as one.
skip-hop tipSkipping in unison is everything.
Teach chain skipping 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, with feet, arms and hands close-ups and ½× and ¼× slow motion
- Step-by-step teaching: swap the inside handles, then skip as one
- The two things that make it work: distance and timing
- Spot the fault, with the fix
- A pupil self-check and links to the Orange, Blue and Red Awards
£149 a year for the whole school, or 6 months free with the whole-school rope set.
Where it fits
Chain skipping: Orange Award
Orange Award: Skipper
A related skill for the Orange Award: one to include in lessons.
To pass, a pupil:
- Skips 10 times in a row (double or single bounce)
- Skips at least once backwards
- Counts their own skips out loud (forwards or backwards skipping)
- Jumps inside a long rope while teachers turn the rope
In the scheme of work
Where this skill is taught in the skip-hop scheme of work.
- UKS2Lesson 4: Team skillsTricks, Teams and Double Dutch · Years 5 and 6
- UKS2Lesson 6: Award day: Red and BlackTricks, Teams and Double Dutch · Years 5 and 6
What you need
A longer rope gives two skippers room. 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 chain skipping hard. Change one thing at a time.
What usually makes it hard: Skipping in time with the person next to you.
- TaskHold the inside handles and walk together first.
- CommunicationSomeone counts the group in.
- PeopleAn adult can be one link of the chain.
Seated or no-jump version. A wheelchair user is the end link, turning the outside handle in time.
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.