Have you tried a Zup board? I have one that I would let go as we no longer need it, but I have no idea about shipping cost. Not trying to peddle mine, but we had huge success with the little guys learning. The rope it comes with is a double handle and it hooks into the front of the board so the kids don’t have to hold the rope. The board has handles they hold onto. You can use it simply to lay on your stomach and hold on, it has pockets they can slip their feet into and hold the rope like they’re skiing as well. Obviously you can use it as a knee board too and either hold the handles on the board OR hold the rope. It’s worth a YouTube search for sure.