Too old to have played elastics but certainly played the game described above using two ropes - we called it French skipping. A couple of weeks ago I was reminiscing about skipping games and rhymes with a friend originally from the Manchester area. The game we were talking about was "bumps" where the rope was turned twice, very fast.We skipped with a length of plastic covered washing line which could develop quite a 'whip' and hurt like hell if you didn't develop skills quickly enough. Between us we remembered a few rhymes (with interesting variations) I think the bottle of red wine was a big help! I also remember playing twosies with balls against a wall - our version was played in order of increasing difficulty.