If your children caught the skipping bug with the recent movie all about it ('Jump In!'), or you are looking for something new to enhance your child's love of sporty games or their sense of balance and physical co-ordination, the Skipmate is a great way to get them into skipping.
The Skipmate comes with a pretty skipping rope and a talking handset (that you can clip on to your child's skirt or trousers) which sings four skipping songs and can count how many skips are managed every time. It's encouraging and fun and comes with a useful sturdy stand in case you want to play skipping games but don't have at least three players. This way it's easy to hold the rope at the height of your child and go at their pace even when it's just you and your child who are playing.
We gave it a go with our three-year-old and she loves it. Even though she isn't hugely co-ordinated yet - she's a long way off Lennox Lewis standards! - she enjoys the game aspect of the singing and counting.
The Skipmate is available from several outlets, including Toys R Us. It costs £9.99. For more about the Skipmate and other counting skipping ropes by Mookie, go to www.mookie.co.uk.
