Jumping Rope at the One Room School
I was talking with my sister Peggy about our days at the one room school. One of the activities I described was the story of the "Windmill", a winter game in the snow. As we recalled those times, our minds turned to another game not in my book. It was competitive Rope Jumping. To do this, a long rope was needed with a student at each end turning the rope. As many as four or five children would be the jumpers. A rhyme was used mostly to emphasize the rate of which the rope was turned. As the speed increased, the jumping students may have had to bend over and touch their toes or some other trick. In all cases the chant ended with the words salt and then pepper. At this point, the speed increased as fast as the rope could be turned. The last remaining student still jumping and who had not gotten caught in the rope was the winner.