A jump-start on spring

As soon as spring is on the horizon, the kids at this school all start jumping – literally!

from the April 6, 2007 edition

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The sky's the limit. Now that we have the basics down, elaborations on the skills and rules are evolving. Is it better to start from a standstill with the rope or to let the turners get a rhythm established and then jump in? If one is going to jump into a whirling rope, is it better to launch from the clockwise or counterclockwise side? If adding people into the jumping zone for a group-record attempt, how close together should they stand?

It's a rare team sport that doesn't have an opponent – or an offense and a defense. Yet it's pure competition – you against gravity and your previous achievement.

In some ways, it's even similar to the circus. In fact, on Thursday, sixth-grader Alex juggled while he jumped!

Every good playground game has room for the showoffs. Boys like to drop on all fours and let the rope skim under them. Girls like to touch the ground or attempt patty-cake word games while jumping.

Then there are the speed demons: After 10 repetitions, the speed goes up. Green light, 0 to 60 in 10 seconds, and then it's redline time, 120 revolutions per minute, for the truly hyperactive. My arm aches.

Could a toy be any simpler? For all the fancy electronic tools and games available to kids, it's this old-fashioned rope revolving at 50 r.p.m. that gives the most pleasure.

Not so sure about jumping? We need counters on the sidelines. Bess is good at counting, so she stands at my elbow and enumerates.

There's an interesting interplay of individual and group cooperation in jump-rope. As I stand at one end of the rope, I become invisible. My job is no longer to be school principal but simply to make the rope go around and around.

I'm not the umpire or rulemaker, just the watcher, though I do remind them of some of the laws of thermodynamics and geometry at work. The jumpers make the rules and strategies, and the ingenious methods as to how to add people, how to start, how to determine who messes up, and who turns next.

I gotta go. They're at the door again. To every season, turn, turn, turn.

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