In Cat and Mouse, jump rope skills become a matter of survival. This game combines jump rope and tag to keep all players moving through the rope. Players run and jump in a figure eight then get back in line; the goal of the mouse is to jump without getting tagged; the goal of the cat is to jump and the tag the mouse.
Cat and Mouse
Any Size
Ages 3-5
Jump Ropes
Less Than 10 minutes
Development Goal
To develop eye-foot coordination.
Before You Start
- Review how to safely jump into a spinning jump rope.
- Review how to tag softly–like a butterfly–on the shoulds, upper arms or back.
- Pick two players to turn the rope.
- Pick one person to begin as the cat and one person to begin as the mouse. Everyone else remains in line and waits for their turn.
- Review how players will rotate roles. A person many rotate roles in the following order: cat, mouse, rope turner, roper turner, in line.
- Demonstrated how to play.
Set Up
- Pick a space that will allow a large jump rope to spin safely, room for player to run around the rope and a nearby line.
How to Play
- Players will travel in a figure eight, jumping into the rope one time, then around the turner, back into the rope one time and around the other turner.
- The mouse begins.
- Once the mouse has jumped out of the rope around the first turner, the cat may jump.
- The object of the game is for the mouse to not be tagged and for the cat to tag the mouse.
- If the cat tags the mouse, everybody rotates.
- If the mouse misses a jump, everybody rotates.
- If the cat misses a jump, everybody rotates
Variations
- Allow the cat and mouse to run through the rope instead of jumping once.
- Require the cat and mouse to jump two times (or more) before running out of the rope.