Gymnastics
Mr. L.
You have many options for a Gymnastic lesson in your Physical Education lesson. It doesn’t have to be flips, parallel bars and advanced movements.
Jog & Search
Equipment: Index cards
Grades: 2nd-12th
- Spread out index cards labeled with exercises all over your gym floor.
- Have your students jog around the basketball court or designated area.
- On your whistle the students will sprint to an index card and perform the exercise.
- Exercise choices: Squats, jumping jacks, wall seats, jump up, balance on one foot, push-ups and curl-ups.
- Once the student completes the exercise, they return to a slow job around the court until you blow the whistle again.
Individual Mat Work
Equipment: 2 X 4 floor mats
Grades: 1st-5th
- Balance on 1 foot.
- Airplane balance on 1 foot with arms out and lean forward.
- Jump up and perform a 180 and 360.
- Push-ups.
- Curl-ups.
- Jump straight up.
- Jump up and to the side.
- Jump forward & back.
- Air jacks. Jumping while doing a jumping jack.
- Jump up from a kneeling position to a stand.
- Hand stands.
- Walking hand stands.
Partner Work
- Squats back to back.
- Lifts: Stand back to back, hook elbows and lift your partner off the floor. Take turns back and forth.
- Face your partner, grab hands, touch toe to toe and lean back as if your sitting in a chair.
- Balance on a partner. One partner gets on all fours and another partner does the same on their back.
- Same as above from a standing position. (Piggy back)
- Partner does push-ups while the other holds them up by their ankles.
- A,B,C Push-ups with a partner. Slap hands while doing push-ups each time you come up.
- Groups of 3. All 3 partners hold hands while 1 of the partners attempt to jump over the arms of the other two.
- One partner down on all four’s and the other partner in the same position, but on top of their partner.
- Falling correctly. Hold your partner’s hands while leaning back ward and let go. Strike hands on the mat as you fall.
Gymnastic Stations
Equipment: Mats, balance beams, cones
Grades: 3rd-8th
- Balance beam station. Low to the ground walking, cartwheels.
- Rolling station. Use a high mat 2-3 feet in thickness. Run up and log roll or forward roll.
Rock Wall Station
CLICK HERE for more rock wall activities.
Tumbling station
Equipment: Mats
Grades: K-5th
- Log rolls.
- Forward rolls.
- Back rolls.
Rope Swing Station
Equipment: You’ll need a rope attached to your ceiling & a 6-12 inch thick mat.
Grade: 2nd-6th
- Students will swing over the mat.
Rope Climb Station
- I recommend a 2-3 ft thickness in your mat with a teaching spotting.
Box Jump Station
- Use different heights for ability.
Plank Station
- Front and side planks.
- Wall seats.
Moving Station
- Bear crawls
- Army crawls
Relays
- Jumps
- Leap frogs with a partner or group. Jump over partner back as the bend over.
- Wheel barrel with one partner holding the ankles while the other walks on their hands.
- Double Wheel barrel. First partner in push-up position with feet resting on partners shoulders. 2nd player in push-up position with other partner holding the ankle’s.
- Walking hand stands.
Balance before the beam
Equipment: Mats
Grades: K-5th
- Balance on one foot. Flamingo style.
- Chair seat.
- Feet and hands only with rear up in the air.
- One foot touch side of your other leg and both hands together above your head.
- Stretch over to side, with arm out.
- Head down and foot up.
- Advanced side plank.
- Advanced balance.
- Advanced balance split.
- Elbow balance.
Balance Beam activities
Equipment: Benches & Mats to be place underneath the benches or beams.
Grades: K-5th
- You can use a bench if you don’t have a balance beam’s. They’re wider and less expensive.
- Crawl across.
- Hands and feet only.
- Crab crawl forward and backward.
- Army crawl.
- Straddle walk sideways.
- Run.
- Hop.
- Jump.
- Walk backwards.
- Turning in circles.
- Pause half way and stand on one foot.
- Pause on one knee.
- Pause and balance on one foot leaning forward.
- Forward & backward dismount practice.
Obstacle Course
CLICK HERE to see a obstacle/ninja warrior course to give you some ideas for your class.
- There is no set way to set up a obstacle course, but I recommend requiring your students to perform a balance movement after each apparatus.
- Log Roll on a mat.
- Walk on a low balance beam.
- Crawl thru a tunnel.
- Swing on a rope.
- Perform 3 cartwheels on a mat.
- Walk on hands and feet in a push-ups.
- Jump from 2 X 2ft mats with touching the ground. Place a thin mat underneath. Similar to how Ninja warrior begins.
- Army Crawl.
Hope you enjoyed this post. Feel free to leave a comment or question below.
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