Looking for a rainy day activity that the kids can help out with? We’ve put together a simple tutorial on how to make a jumprope out of empty wood pellet bags – and we hope you’ll try it out.

Remember, we’re dealing with plastic and scissors here, so kids should participate under adult supervision only.

What you’ll need:
– Empty wood pellet bags
– Scissors
– Tape
– Minimal braiding skills

For one jump rope, you’ll need two pellet bags. First, shake out any excess pellets and fines from the bags. Cut the tops and bottoms of the bags so you have a nice even double layer of plastic to work with. Carefully cut strips vertically either one layer at a time, or keep the layers together to cut two strips at a time. Try to keep the strips of similar width, but it doesn’t have to be perfect of course.

Next, tie at least 12 single strips of plastic together until you have a nice long strip of plastic. Repeat this twice to have three total. Fold each connected strip in half to double up the strength, and tie a knot on one end. Repeat this with the other two connected plastic strips. 

Twist the three double strings together, just under the knots you made, and securely tape down to a table or wall. To make the braiding easier, twist each double string all the way down to the end, and make a knot. You should now have three twisted together double strips, connected at the top.

Make a simple braid all the way from the top to bottom, using your three twisted together strips. Just like the old friendship bracelets, just much longer this time! Secure the three strings together at the bottom.

You can make a heftier, stronger jump rope by repeating the above steps twice, and braiding those three braids together. But this simple tutorial should give you a nice jump rope that can easily survive a season of play.

The handles can be as simple or as complex as you’d like. We used several layers of extra strips to wrap around the ends to make handles, and secured them with tape. Here you can get creative and add some fun flair, like colorful ribbon or decorative duct tape. The possibilities are endless!

Do you have any ideas on how to reuse empty wood pellet bags? Please share!