Chinese Jump Rope

Anyone out there ever play Chinese Jump Rope in the 80's? I learned it at one school then moved and introduced it to my new school and soon everywhere you looked girls were playing Chinese Jump Rope. For those of you who don't know what in the world I'm talking about, you take a huge eleastic band, strap it around the ankles of two people, standing about 4 feet apart and then a third person jumps in, out, side to side, on, in, and out of the rope. There are several different levels - skinnies (elastic on just one ankle), fatties (elastic stretched as far apart as the kids' feet will go), marchies, scissors (you twist the rope between your feet before you jump) washer (you spin back and forth as you jump) and many others I have forgotten. You then move the elastic up to the knees and start all over again. If you make it through all those, the rope moves up to the waist. Whenever you miss a jump or step on the rope when you're not supposed to your turn is over. On your next turn you start at the place you missed.

So, I was thinking about this game a few weeks ago and realized you can't find Chinese Jump Ropes anymore in stores. (I did a quick Google search and turned up a few books, but none of them sounded exactly like what I used to play.) So, I mentioned it to my mom and she sent me a box of elastic she had collected over the years. A rounded elastic about 3 yards turned out to work wonderfully. So, having three young daughters, I fastened the rope around their ankles and showed them how to play. They liked it until they got to skinnies and kept stepping on the ropes. They are 6 and 5, so I'll give them another year or two before they get really excited about it - I started playing when I was 8.

Homeschooling three young children through the cold winter months can bring on cabin fever if said children don't like playing out in the cold. Thus my search for activities we can play inside in a small house with no basement or garage. I loved playing outside as a kid and it never felt as cold to me as it does now - funny, isn't it? I'd attempt to introduce jacks to my daughters, but I'm afraid the little bouncy ball will end up bouncing off ceilings instead of the floor.