Archive for September 2011
Gymmie Says: All Kids have Fun Moving
Gymmie went back to the gym and watched teenagers with autism in a gymnastics class. The kids jumped energetically on the trampoline. Big smiles appeared as their bounces got higher and as they tried new skills. Gymmie noticed that jumping on the trampoline seemed to heighten awareness in these kids. They watched other kids and make more eye contact. Moving on to the vault, one boy runs and jumps on the vault but gets a bit nervous of the height when jumping down. Another boy needs coaxing to run hard towards the vault. The next event was swinging on the rope and the smiles came back as they swung back and forth. The group also swung on the parallel bars and practiced forward rolls.
Class ended and the boy who had just tried the class for the night, asked his mom, “Gymnastics tomorrow?”. His mom said “He rarely asks for tomorrow, so I know he liked class”. Gymmie smiled as the smiling kids greeted their parents, found their shoes in the cubbies, and sat down to put them on.
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Gymmie says: Preschool is the Right Time.
Gymmie knows that preschoolers learn quickly. Gymmie loves movement, so Gymmie checked out a gymnastics class. A 3-year-old was taking his first turn walking across the balance beam. He clutched the coach’s hand tightly and took timid, wobbly steps. By his third turn, the wobble was gone from his step and tho’ he still wanted a little help from the coach, his fearful face had dissolved into a smile.
Preschool is the right time for children to master the FUNdamental movement skills of running, jumping, balancing, swinging, hopping, and rolling. Even if a child is having a little trouble with a skill, he or she is surrounded by peers who are all working on those skills. By elementary school many children have moved on to mastering sports specific skills. So give your young child as many opportunities as possible to play actively and have fun with movement.
Gymmie Says: Try it!
Gymmie knows kids can be nervous about trying new things. At gymnastics camp recently, preschool campers were waiting their turn to swing on the rope. Tommy (not his real name) did not even want to climb up on the block with the other kids and definitely did not want to touch the rope. The coach coaxed Tommy up on the block and his first turn was to push the rope away and say “goodbye rope”. After a couple of turns of that, the coach persuaded Tommy to try one swing with her help. Tommy sat on the knot in the rope, then with one hand holding the rope and the other clamped around the coach’s neck, Tommy did one swing. His look of fear turned into a cautious smile as he climbed off the rope. The next day Tommy needed a little help but held onto the rope and exclaimed, “I’m getting good at this.” By the next day he was swinging on the rope with no help and beaming from ear to ear.
Gymmie loves to see the smiles and pride that children get when they try something that makes them nervous or fearful. “I can’t do it” dissolves into “I can!” with a little help and patience.
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