SKIPPING GAMES

Abstract

Nowadays skipping is mainly a girls’ activity, along with ball bouncing routines, hand clapping, and action songs. Some twenty skipping rhymes noted by Douglas, such as “Bluebells, cockle shells” and “All in together” were still in use when Nigel Kelsey’s survey was conducted in the 1980s. A number of traditional singing games have been saved from possible extinction by being adopted for use as skipping rhymes, along with rhymes originally used for other purposes. The possible permutations in group skipping tend to fall into five categories, e.g. “The skippers, one at a time, go through a series of movements”, and “The rope changes speed, usually getting faster and faster”. These are discussed in some detail, illustrated by the relevant games from the sixty-one examples which follow. In conclusion, elastic skipping is discussed and exemplified.