WOW Game Title: Jump Rope Math
Content Area: Math
TEKS Focus: Understanding Addition
Understanding Subtraction
Geometry and Spatial Reasoning
Measurement
Physical Education Unit: Jumping Rope
Grade: 1
Resource: Aimee Edwards
Equipment/Materials: Rulers, yard sticks, measuring tape, floor tiles, one beaded jump rope for each
student.
Set Up: Have each student get into their own personal space with jump rope and measuring tool.
Activity:
Students can practice a variety of math skills with the use of a segmented (beaded) jump rope. Have
students begin by jumping rope. Every 2-3 minutes stop the students and ask them to perform one of the
tasks below. The activities that can be done include:
1. Put geometric shapes on the floor and have the students place their ropes over the shapes or duplicate
them with their ropes. Then have the students jump rope the number of sides that the shape has.
2. Have the students count the number of plastic beads in their ropes. Then they can jump that many
times.
3. Have the students measure a partner to see how many “pieces” tall they are.
4. The ropes can be stretched on the floor and the students can see how many pieces long they can jump
with a one foot take-off, a two foot take-off, and a running start.
5. State a math problem and have the students form the answer with their rope and then jump that many
times.
Variations:
 Describe or show a picture of a geometric shape and have students duplicate the shape with their
ropes.
 Have the students count the two different colored beads and add or multiply them together. For
example, if there were 50 red beads and 49 whites, the students would add them together for a
total of 99.
 Have students multiply the number of sections by the length of each section to come up with
inches/feet.
 Have one student mark the area where their partner’s heel’s landed and then both partners can
use a measurement tool to find out how far the jump was in inches, feet, yards, etc. Students
could then use simple conversions between different units of length.
Review Questions:
Skill focus: Jumping rope is a cardiovascular activity. Can you name another cardiovascular
activity?
Academic focus: How many crayons do you think that you would need to line up on the floor
so that they would measure the same distance as your jump rope? How could you find out if
your prediction is correct?