exercise
Gymmie Says: “He Gets It”
Today in a toddler gymnastics class, a mom commented, “I love watching how he is starting to get it!”. The mom was watching her 2 year-old son make his way around an obstacle course that included rolling, climbing, and doing a version of a handstand. A few weeks ago the boy would not have understood the sequence of the obstacle course, nor how to move himself through the different activities. The toddler’s brain and body are developing skills, but most importantly mom and son are having fun. Capture the magic of childhood through play and physical activity.
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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:
Gymmie is looking forward to summer and lots of time to play. Please mom, dad, nannies, and camp counselors give me time to explore and play outside. Teach me new skills but let me have some free time, too. Since we can go outside more, can we play with messy stuff like sand and water?
Children learn through playing. Some of their best learning comes from experimenting and trying new things. Children need time to explore a playground or the outdoors or build an obstacle course inside on a rainy day. They will learn by doing. However, children also benefit from guidance. A child may see the monkey bars on the playground but not know how to start playing on them. With a little help and encouragement, that child can add a skill, lessen their fear, and have more fun on the playground.
Introducing Gymmie
Gymmie is a character that promotes fun physical activity and play for all children. Through play, kids build active bodies and active minds. Gymmie shares ideas for simple stretches, skills and activities that build motor ability, body awareness, strength, flexibility, and control. Gymmie wants children to develop FUNdamental Movement Skills by the time they are 6 years old, so they enter school with an active start on a healthy and fit life.