Skip-It is a children's toy invented by

Avi Arad Avi Arad (; he, אבי ארד; born 1948) is an Israeli-American film producer who became the CEO of the company Toy Biz in the 1990s and soon afterward became the chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment, and the chairman, CEO, and founde ...

, Maggie Harvey and Mel Kennedy and manufactured by Tiger Electronics. The Skip-It apparatus was designed to be affixed to the child's ankle via a small

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

hoop and spun around in a 360 degree rotation while continuously skipped by the user.

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

magazine included it in their 100 greatest toys ever. During its initial release in the 1980s, the Skip-It apparatus became a commercial success through its advertisements on daytime

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

as well as other children's programming. It was based on 1960s toy Lemon Twist, which featured a lemon-shaped weight which was spun round the ankle. During a second production occurring in the early 1990s—that was referred to by the then-CEO as a "Skip-It Renaissance"—the toy was manufactured with a counter on the Skip-It ball to record the number of skips. As a result, sales doubled from the late 1980s. Some Skip-Its had colorful glitter filled and covered plastic decorations that can be slid on in order to make colorful patterns while being twirled about. There were also ribbon streamers, charms and stickers to decorate Skip Its, which were discontinued sometime in 2009. A version of the toy was featured in the Hong Kong martial art movie ''

Butterfly and Sword ''Butterfly and Sword'' is a 1993 Hong Kong ''wuxia'' film loosely based on the novel ''Liuxing Hudie Jian'' by Gu Long. Directed by Michael Mak, the film starred Tony Leung, Michelle Yeoh, Jimmy Lin, Joey Wong and Donnie Yen. Plot Butterfly ...

'' (1993) where the character Miu Siu Siu / Ho Ching is seen playing with it. In 2013, a spin-off of the board game Twister was developed, Twister Rave Skip-It.

References

Physical activity and dexterity toys 1980s toys 1990s toys {{toy-stub