How it works
Partners face each other and share one rope, one holding a handle in the left hand and the other in the right, like looking in a mirror. Turn the rope slowly so it hits the floor, then pass the handle under the matching leg as the rope comes down, in time with your partner.
Step by step
Face each other and share the rope: it should look like a mirror.
Turn the rope smoothly and slowly so it hits the floor.
As it comes down, lift the matching leg and pass the handle under it to the other hand.
Swap hands, change direction and pass under the other leg.
skip-hop tipMove closer together to make the rope reach the floor. Don't bend over.
Why partner skipping matters
skip-hop coach Lee Collinson-James has used partner skipping for 25 years to help children learn to skip. It’s the doorway that unlocks the mystery of turning a rope and jumping, and putting the two together. It can give a child their first ever experience of being inside a turning rope, and their first step towards understanding how a moving rope and bouncing feet fit together.
Partner skipping is surely one of the most effective ways to develop children’s physical health and spatial awareness. None of it is possible without the three C’s: cooperation, coordination, concentration.
It is that eureka, “I can do it” moment that can make the most reticent child into an active teenager. I have first-hand experience of this: lifelong adult skippers.
For a child who is struggling to skip, start face to face with them: Lee’s tips for SEND pupils and young skippers.
Teach mirror 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:
- Why mirror skipping is ideal for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2
- Step-by-step teaching: pass it across, swap arms, under the leg, then turn round
- Spot the fault, with the fix
- A pupil self-check and links to the Orange Award and rope turning
£149 a year for the whole school, or 6 months free with the whole-school rope set.
Mirror 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.
- LKS2Lesson 4: Partner skippingSkills and Tricks · Years 3 and 4
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 mirror skipping hard. Change one thing at a time.
What usually makes it hard: Copying a partner’s timing.
- Communication“Watch my hands.” A slow leader.
- SpaceMove closer together so the rope reaches the floor, as the skip-hop tip says.
- TaskTurn the rope slowly without passing it under the leg first.
Seated or no-jump version. Seated partners turn the shared rope together in time, mirroring each other.
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.