When life gets tangled, just jump rope.
In my upcoming release, A Chance for Kallie Mae, (May 19th) Kallie Mae’s little sister makes friends at the one-room school and has fun jumping rope.
But did you know the Dutch settlers brought the fun of jumping rope to North America in the 17th to 18th Century. Then it was mostly a boys’ game since, at that time, it was improper for girls to jump and show their ankles. Plus, girls’ clothing wasn’t styled for jumping anything. But when the 1800s came along and styles changed, girls wore dresses that gave them more freedom of movement. Also, pantalettes became part of a girl’s outfit and helping her maintain her modesty while jumping. That let girls start to have fun jumping rope. Books like The Girl’s Own Book (1834) included jump rope instructions, but with a caution in that first edition that a girl shouldn’t over do and expend too much exertion in their play. Aren’t you glad things changed for girls?
I think most of these rules may have been for the richer children. Country kids were already wearing less fashionable and comfortable clothes that let them work alongside their parents and play when they had the time.
My new book is set in 1911. By then one room schools had popped up everywhere for kids to learn and to have fun at recess. Girls didn’t wear pants or shorts in that time. Girls wore dresses, and one of the things they could do in those dresses was jump rope. In my book, the girls have fun with jump rope songs. Two girls twirl the long rope while one girl or sometimes two do the jumping. The other girls gathered around and waiting their turns do the jump rope chant.
Here are a couple I came across but didn’t use in my story.
Cinderella, dressed in yellow
Went upstairs to kiss her fellow
Made a mistake
And kissed a snake
How many doctors
Did it take?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5…
In this one the girls kept counting until whoever was jumping missed a jump. Then it was a different girl’s turn.
The next chant had some extra tricks the jumper had to do while jumping.
Butterfly, butterfly turn around
Butterfly, butterfly touch the ground
Butterfly, butterfly show your shoe
Butterfly, butterfly that will do.
Here’s the one I used in my book. The original said down in the valley but I rewrote it to suit my girls.
Down in the holler
where the green grass grows,
there stood Emmie (or whoever was jumping) as sweet as a rose.
She sang and sang so sweet
that along came a boy and kissed her on the cheek.
How many kisses did she get that week?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5- (The count when on until the girl jumping tripped up.)
I hope reading about the jump rope fun at recess will take you down some memory lanes when you read about Emmie and her friends. I did more single rope jumping when I was a kid. We played on swings at recess. But I liked imagining the rope hitting the playground dirt at Dry Creek School and sending up dust as the barefoot girls jumped.
Did you every jump rope to a chant like these? If you remember a different chant, please share it.
A Chance for Kallie Mae is available to preorder. Still time to get the fun deal from Baker Book House where, while supplies last, you can get a signed bookplate and a bookmark along with the book.
Comments 19
I didn’t jump rope to any chants but it is fun hearing about them!
Yes, I did a lot of rope jumping in the lower grades at school. All the rhymes above sound familiar and bring up many memories.
Author
They brought up memories for me too, Connie. That’s one of the good things about researching for my historical novels. While I’m usually farther back in time than I was as a kid, some of the things are still some the same.
I remember jumping rope at school in the 50s. It was one of our favorite things to do. I remember a lot of the chants that have already been mentioned. We also did “double dutch” with 2 ropes going at the same time. Two people would swing the long ropes with one or two people jumping in the middle. That was a little challenging. Unfortunately, I’m sure I couldn’t even make it off the ground at my age.
Author
I’ve seen people do that double dutch jumping, Winnie. I don’t think I was ever that coordinated. I could do the hula hoop when I was a teen. Can’t remember how to do it now though and no doubt, would stumble on the first jump rope twirl.
We jumped rope at recess all the time along to the chants you mentioned & others.
Cinderella dressed in yellow
Went downstairs to kiss her feller
Made a mistake
Kissed a snake
How many doctors did it take..
One..two..three.etc
Author
I think that Cinderella had more trouble than losing that glass shoe, Lucy. LOL. I’ve always thought a glass slipper would be very uncomfortable, but I guess when you’re a princess, you have to keep up appearances. At least until midnight. But not kiss a snake.
Yes I so remember these days of jumping rope with the one that we sang Teddy Bear Teddy Bear and the one of Sitting in a tree!
Author
Sounds like from what others are saying that it could be Teddy Bear in some of the chants and Butterfly in others. All of your comments have me wanting to go out and find more jump rope songs, Sarah. That’s for sharing about your jump rope memories.
I was a little girl in the 1980’s and we did them too but ours were a bit different…we said, “by mistake-kissed a snake and instead of “Butterfly” we said “Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear” but I don’t remember what we said after “touch the ground”.
I have a lot of random things from childhood pop into my head from time to time. One thing I remember is in elementary school music class we would recite “Ice cream soda, Delaware punch, tell me the name of your honeybunch!” I think I might be the only one of my friends to remember it. I turn 50 at the end of the month, so it has been a bit since elementary school, but I still remember it- which is funny because most days I forget why I walked in a room or what I was just about to say! 🙂
Author
I’ve never heard your little rhyme, but that’s cute, Hope. We used to say I scream. You scream. We all scream for Ice (or maybe I) scream. I liked play on words even then.
It’s fun to have those random memories pop up to make us smile.
Yes, I jumped role in elementary school. Now, our grandkids jump rope. Thank you for the reminder of some songs to sing while jumping. Have a blessed week!
Author
Fun songs, Melissa. Hope you sing some of them with your grandkids. 🙂
Johnny over the ocean. Johnny over the sea. Johnny broke a milk bottle. Blamed it on me. I told Ma. Ma told Pa. Johnny got a lickin’. Hahaha. How many lickins did he get? 1,2,3…etc. I can think of a few others, too. Jumping rope was fun. Wish I still could do it. Looking forward to reading your new book.
Author
That’s one I’ve never heard, Lee. I always had fun jumping rope too, but I was never very good at it. Johnny probably wouldn’t have gotten that many licks when I was the jumper. I’m always impressed when I see people jumping rope for exercise and going and going without missing a beat.
Yea we jumped rope at recess in grade school. I remember one about pirates and of course: Janey and Joey ( or the favorite kids to tease) sitting in a tree K I S S I N G, first come love, then comes marriage, then comes Janey with a baby carriage.
Teddy bear, teddy bear,
Turn around.
Teddy bear, teddy bear,
Touch the ground.
Teddy bear, teddy bear,
Show your shoe.
Teddy bear, teddy bear,
That will do.
Teddy bear, teddy bear,
Go upstairs.
Teddy bear, teddy bear,
Say your prayers.
Teddy bear, teddy bear,
Turn out the light.
Teddy bear, teddy bear,
Say good night.
This was in the 50s.
Author
Thanks for sharing your jumping rope song memories, Paula. I remember the one about the couple sitting in a tree now that you reminded me about it. The KISSING can lead to those baby carriages. LOL. It was a fun way to tease somebody about a boyfriend.
I don’t remember us jumping rope at school, but my parents would do jump rope for my sisters and I at home, and Daddy would even get in on it and do hot peppers. I remember the one about sitting in a tree and kissing, but that’s the only one I remember.
Author
That’s neat that your dad joined in with the fun, Trudy. I can’t imagine my dad trying that. Well, I’m not sure I could have tried the hot pepper jumping. Sounds like some good memories for you.