Here are some of the movements students were encouraged to try. We used two different ropes: speed ropes (made of a molded plastic material, all one piece) and beaded ropes (a rope with beaded sections.)
Speed ropes: Stretch the rope flat in an approximately straight line.
- Pretend the rope is a tightrope and walk along it.
- Walk forward, backward, sideways along the rope.
- Try to walk forward/backward/sideways with eyes closed.
- Jump/hop side to side/front to back over the rope.
- Jump/hop side to side/front to back while moving from one handle to the other handle.
- Make a pattern of hops / jumps while moving from one handle to the next handle.
- Make a bridge (with own body) over the rope. Try to move the bridge from one end of the rope to the other end.
- Keep hands on the floor and jump feet over the rope.
- Leap over classmate's ropes (picture below). Count how many leaps you do before "Freeze!"
- Try other ways of moving along the rope - including criss-cross walking, jumps/hops, etc. I love to see what students come up with for these movement exploration lessons!!
Beaded ropes: Make the rope into a variety of shapes.
- Begin with students working individually with their own rope.
- Students are assigned a small group, 3-4 students. They then work together to make shapes with ropes on the floor. This helps with students' space awareness, and number/shape/letter recognition.
- Each group begins with an index card with a shape, letter, or number on it. They work together with their group to create the shape, letter, or number using ALL of their group's ropes.
- When finished creating the shape/number/letter on the card, the group trades their card for a new card. Index cards are velcro attached to the wall, so students can easily trade for a new card. (Photo below of activity and index card set-up.)
