Azizi- Wow, that's so much longer than our version! Very impressive that the kids rememered it all! And I'm glad you liked the rhymes ^_^

I assumed other places had french-skipping-ropes, sorry. Come to think of it, I've never heard of them outside my primary school. A french-skipping-rope wasn't a skipping rope at all, as I remember...it was like an enormous colourful elastic band. It wasn't actually rubber, it was covered in fabric, but elasticated. I haven't a clue where they bought them - all I know is, if one snapped, they were mad at the one who snapped it, cos they were either expensive or difficult to get hold of. They were held about 1/3 the way up the shin, or just above the ankles, by two people, leaving about half a metre between the sides (at least a metre between the people). The 'skippers' jumped 'inside' or 'ouside' the space made by the rope, and two people could go at once (any more would snap the rope).

The way you did it depended on who you played it with:

Scotland [right foot outside, left foot inside]
England [left foot outside, right foot inside]
Ireland [both inside / right foot outside, left foot inside]
Wales [both inside / left foot outside, right foot inside]

Inside [both inside]
Outside [both outside]
Donkies' [both inside (simple version) / right foot outside, left foot inside on 'DON', left foot outside, right foot inside on 'KIES'' (ENORMOUSLY difficult version)]
TAILS! [both feet actually ON the ropes (this would make them touch the ground, it wasn't like a tightrope)]
--

I read "here's the church..." and "Teddy Bear Teddy Bear" from a children's nursery rhyme book (published in the 80s, probably) along with another 'hand game' that went:

Here's the lady's knives and forks
Here's the lady's table
Here's the lady's looking glass
And here's the baby's cradle
Rock...rock...rock...rock...
--

And we had a clapping rhyme that went:

The girls in Spain
Put their knickers in champagne
And the boys in France
Do a hula-hula dance
And the dance they do
Is enough to tie a shoe
And the shoe they tie
Is enough to tell a lie
And the lie they tell
Is enough to ring a bell
And the bell they ring
Goes "DING-A-LING-A-LING!"