The Skip-It apparatus was designed to be affixed to the child's ankle via a small plastic hoop and spun around in a 360 degree rotation while continuously skipped by the user.

[1] Early toys similar to the Skip-It included the Jingle Jump,[2] the trademark application for which was filed on December 30, 1963 by Jak-Pak Industries.

In 1975,[7] the Chemtoy Corporation would release a similar toy called the Lemon Twist, which featured a lemon-shaped ball.

[9] Tiger Electronics added a mechanical digital counter to the ball, which was patented by Avi Arad and Melvin R. Kennedy in 1990.

[10] During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Skip-It apparatus became a commercial success through its advertisements on daytime Nickelodeon broadcasting as well as other children's programming.