Primary Gymnastics
Gymnastic stations/activities/games
1. Inch worm- (scooters)- have student put their knees on the scooter. Use your hands to stretch out and place them on the floor in front of you. Use your knees to pull the scooter towards your hands.
2. Crab Scooter- crab walk with your feet on the scooter
3. Airplane spins- lay your belly on the scooter. Use your hands and arms to spin you around in place. Generate speed and then take your hands off the floor and spin freely
4. Swimming on scooter- Lay on belly on the scooter, Pick feet up off the ground. Use hands to freestyle “swim” in the gym
5. Crawls- Army, Bear, Seal walk (push up position and then leg your legs go “dead”. Use your arms to drag your body)
6. Run, Jump and Land- get a running start, jump and attempt to stick the landing. Try different jumps to stick the landing such as 180 degree jump, 360 jumps, jump and land on one foot, etc
7. Rock wall
8. Mini- Trampolines
9. Balance obstacle course- stepping stones, balance logs, anything that you can walk on that enhances balance.
10. Rolls- egg roll, log roll, bump on a log roll, forward roll
11. Yoga cards- Yoga Pretzels playing cards
12. Balance Red light/Green light- stand in the middle of the gym. Have half of the class on one base line, and the other half on the other baseline. Rules are the same as classic RL/GL. When you face one group the stop and balance on one foot. If they lose balance, they go back to the baseline. Meanwhile the other group is still moving towards the midcourt line. Once they touch the midcourt line, they head back towards the baseline and start again. If they teacher turns to face the other group that group stops and freezes and the frozen group may begin moving towards their half court line.
13. Back to back tug o war- unfold a tumbling mat and have two students sitting back to back in the middle of the mat. One of the players will tell when to start. Once started, both players will begin to push their way to a designated spot on the opposite side of their mat. After the match is over, play again. A variation might be to have the winners of the match to move to another match and play someone else. Keep track of how many mats you move to.
14. Alligator Wrestling- unfold a tumbling mat. Have players face each other while in push up position. The object of the game is to stay in push up position. Players will try to pull their opponent down to the mat from push up position. They do this by using their hand to grab their opponent’s hand or arm and pull them to the mat. To avoid having their arm grabbed, players may move their hands out of the way but must still remain in pushup position. First person to touch the mat with any body part other than their hand or toes loses the round.
15. Tripods
16. Balance card challenges- station I have with pics of partner and individual balance challenges.
17. Magic Carpet Rides- This is a silly activity but fun. Unfold tumbling mats and have players organize into groups of four. One player will sit tall on their knees (not sitting on their feet). The other three players will grab the mat and slide their partner around the gym. The pullers are not trying to tip their partner over. Its just a fun activity! Take turns being the rider.
18. Sit criss cross applesauce and try to stand up without using hands or knees to help you up.
19. Bird on a wire- have players stand with both feet on a line in the gym (heel to toe) facing their partner. Both players shake hands. On the starting signal players begin to attempt to pull their partner off the line they are standing on.
20. Obstacle tag- Have three types of taggers. I use a red, blue and green tagger. If a player is tagged by a RED tagger, they stand with their feet apart. To get back into the game someone must crawl between their legs. If tagged by a BLUE tagger- assume a crab walk bridge position. A person needs to army crawl under the bridge (sometimes I make a requirement that the crawler cannot touch the bridge, if they do they have to try again before the crab bridge person can get back in the game). If tagged by a GREEN tagger-the players assumes a “reverse” push up position. Another player may jump over their legs to get them back in the game. To add a competitive challenge, have a contest between the taggers and the rest of the group. The taggers will see if they can get everyone tagged into an obstacle position. The rest of the class will try to prevent that from happening by helping out their frozen obstacle classmates. It works on a few levels:
1. Increases movement
2. Promotes cooperation without having to mention it.
3. Provides a structured objective for the competitive students
21. Balance tag - spread out hoops. In the hoops put something for the players to balance on. I used inflatable balance pads in some hoops and a foam brick in others. Assign a handful of taggers. Also hand out a few gatorballs. If a player is tagged they find a hoop to go to and stand on the balance object. To get back in the game a player with a gator ball must throw or toss their ball to the balancing player. Balancing player must catch the ball and remain on balance while doing so. If they achieve this, they may get back into the game and take their ball to go help someone else. (If you can, use bosu balls for this activity!)
22. Wall walks- start in push up position with feet by a wall. Slowly walk your feet up the wall using your hands to support your weight. Always do this on a mat.
23. Fireman’s Carry- unfold a mat and make groups of three. Have two people join hands and make a seat for the remaining player. Have the third person sit in the chair. The two firemen lift the player up and attempt to walk the length of the mat. Switch roles once you get to the end of the mat. Players may go up and back before switching roles if desired.
Safety: Players need to secure rider before moving. Rider needs to sit still while being carried
Social: partner players up with similar size
24. Spin, Freeze, Balance- have students look straight down at their feet and spin around in circles. When the teacher says stop, have them immediately try to balance on one foot. Do it a few times. Make sure to give kids time to recover from each round!
25. Bear crawl into crab walk. For your gymnastic students see if they can go from a bear crawl to bridge to bear crawl. I had two second graders who could do this. Check out this youtube video, go to 2:30 to get the idea http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biYObsMp_8A&list=FLV8RtPW4wOhv3tnub5HhiwA
26.Wheel barrow. An advanced muscular strength activity would be to do wheel barrow with a scooter.
27. Partner leg grab balance- have partners face each other. One partner lifts their leg up towards their partner and the partner holds onto it by securing their hand under the ankle. At this point, one person has both feet on the ground and holding a leg. This person now lifts their leg towards their partner and the partner holds onto it as well. The final product should be two people balancing on one leg and holding each others foot as well.
28. Mule/donkey kicks
29. Bear crawl basketball: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=454h1O61q7A&list=FLV8RtPW4wOhv3tnub5HhiwA&index=7
30.Scrabmle to balance game http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBZfcqm7U54
31. Frog Leg Low Five tag- (Lead up for the forward roll.) Choose a few taggers. Once the game starts, taggers will attempt to tag someone. If tagged, assume a leap frog position. To get back in the game, someone must assume a leap frog position behind you so that you are now both back to back facing opposite directions. From there both players will extend their legs up to straighten them and both players will look through their legs at each other. Both players extend their hand out between their legs to give each other a low five. After that both players get back into the game. A player who is helping someone get back into the game cannot be tagged while helping.
32. Superman to Banana Challenge- Start in a "superman" position on the floor (balance on stomach with hand and feet hovering above the ground). The objective is to see if the student can roll over onto their back without using their hands or legs to do so!
1. Inch worm- (scooters)- have student put their knees on the scooter. Use your hands to stretch out and place them on the floor in front of you. Use your knees to pull the scooter towards your hands.
2. Crab Scooter- crab walk with your feet on the scooter
3. Airplane spins- lay your belly on the scooter. Use your hands and arms to spin you around in place. Generate speed and then take your hands off the floor and spin freely
4. Swimming on scooter- Lay on belly on the scooter, Pick feet up off the ground. Use hands to freestyle “swim” in the gym
5. Crawls- Army, Bear, Seal walk (push up position and then leg your legs go “dead”. Use your arms to drag your body)
6. Run, Jump and Land- get a running start, jump and attempt to stick the landing. Try different jumps to stick the landing such as 180 degree jump, 360 jumps, jump and land on one foot, etc
7. Rock wall
8. Mini- Trampolines
9. Balance obstacle course- stepping stones, balance logs, anything that you can walk on that enhances balance.
10. Rolls- egg roll, log roll, bump on a log roll, forward roll
11. Yoga cards- Yoga Pretzels playing cards
12. Balance Red light/Green light- stand in the middle of the gym. Have half of the class on one base line, and the other half on the other baseline. Rules are the same as classic RL/GL. When you face one group the stop and balance on one foot. If they lose balance, they go back to the baseline. Meanwhile the other group is still moving towards the midcourt line. Once they touch the midcourt line, they head back towards the baseline and start again. If they teacher turns to face the other group that group stops and freezes and the frozen group may begin moving towards their half court line.
13. Back to back tug o war- unfold a tumbling mat and have two students sitting back to back in the middle of the mat. One of the players will tell when to start. Once started, both players will begin to push their way to a designated spot on the opposite side of their mat. After the match is over, play again. A variation might be to have the winners of the match to move to another match and play someone else. Keep track of how many mats you move to.
14. Alligator Wrestling- unfold a tumbling mat. Have players face each other while in push up position. The object of the game is to stay in push up position. Players will try to pull their opponent down to the mat from push up position. They do this by using their hand to grab their opponent’s hand or arm and pull them to the mat. To avoid having their arm grabbed, players may move their hands out of the way but must still remain in pushup position. First person to touch the mat with any body part other than their hand or toes loses the round.
15. Tripods
16. Balance card challenges- station I have with pics of partner and individual balance challenges.
17. Magic Carpet Rides- This is a silly activity but fun. Unfold tumbling mats and have players organize into groups of four. One player will sit tall on their knees (not sitting on their feet). The other three players will grab the mat and slide their partner around the gym. The pullers are not trying to tip their partner over. Its just a fun activity! Take turns being the rider.
18. Sit criss cross applesauce and try to stand up without using hands or knees to help you up.
19. Bird on a wire- have players stand with both feet on a line in the gym (heel to toe) facing their partner. Both players shake hands. On the starting signal players begin to attempt to pull their partner off the line they are standing on.
20. Obstacle tag- Have three types of taggers. I use a red, blue and green tagger. If a player is tagged by a RED tagger, they stand with their feet apart. To get back into the game someone must crawl between their legs. If tagged by a BLUE tagger- assume a crab walk bridge position. A person needs to army crawl under the bridge (sometimes I make a requirement that the crawler cannot touch the bridge, if they do they have to try again before the crab bridge person can get back in the game). If tagged by a GREEN tagger-the players assumes a “reverse” push up position. Another player may jump over their legs to get them back in the game. To add a competitive challenge, have a contest between the taggers and the rest of the group. The taggers will see if they can get everyone tagged into an obstacle position. The rest of the class will try to prevent that from happening by helping out their frozen obstacle classmates. It works on a few levels:
1. Increases movement
2. Promotes cooperation without having to mention it.
3. Provides a structured objective for the competitive students
21. Balance tag - spread out hoops. In the hoops put something for the players to balance on. I used inflatable balance pads in some hoops and a foam brick in others. Assign a handful of taggers. Also hand out a few gatorballs. If a player is tagged they find a hoop to go to and stand on the balance object. To get back in the game a player with a gator ball must throw or toss their ball to the balancing player. Balancing player must catch the ball and remain on balance while doing so. If they achieve this, they may get back into the game and take their ball to go help someone else. (If you can, use bosu balls for this activity!)
22. Wall walks- start in push up position with feet by a wall. Slowly walk your feet up the wall using your hands to support your weight. Always do this on a mat.
23. Fireman’s Carry- unfold a mat and make groups of three. Have two people join hands and make a seat for the remaining player. Have the third person sit in the chair. The two firemen lift the player up and attempt to walk the length of the mat. Switch roles once you get to the end of the mat. Players may go up and back before switching roles if desired.
Safety: Players need to secure rider before moving. Rider needs to sit still while being carried
Social: partner players up with similar size
24. Spin, Freeze, Balance- have students look straight down at their feet and spin around in circles. When the teacher says stop, have them immediately try to balance on one foot. Do it a few times. Make sure to give kids time to recover from each round!
25. Bear crawl into crab walk. For your gymnastic students see if they can go from a bear crawl to bridge to bear crawl. I had two second graders who could do this. Check out this youtube video, go to 2:30 to get the idea http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biYObsMp_8A&list=FLV8RtPW4wOhv3tnub5HhiwA
26.Wheel barrow. An advanced muscular strength activity would be to do wheel barrow with a scooter.
27. Partner leg grab balance- have partners face each other. One partner lifts their leg up towards their partner and the partner holds onto it by securing their hand under the ankle. At this point, one person has both feet on the ground and holding a leg. This person now lifts their leg towards their partner and the partner holds onto it as well. The final product should be two people balancing on one leg and holding each others foot as well.
28. Mule/donkey kicks
29. Bear crawl basketball: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=454h1O61q7A&list=FLV8RtPW4wOhv3tnub5HhiwA&index=7
30.Scrabmle to balance game http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBZfcqm7U54
31. Frog Leg Low Five tag- (Lead up for the forward roll.) Choose a few taggers. Once the game starts, taggers will attempt to tag someone. If tagged, assume a leap frog position. To get back in the game, someone must assume a leap frog position behind you so that you are now both back to back facing opposite directions. From there both players will extend their legs up to straighten them and both players will look through their legs at each other. Both players extend their hand out between their legs to give each other a low five. After that both players get back into the game. A player who is helping someone get back into the game cannot be tagged while helping.
32. Superman to Banana Challenge- Start in a "superman" position on the floor (balance on stomach with hand and feet hovering above the ground). The objective is to see if the student can roll over onto their back without using their hands or legs to do so!
More Gymnastic Challenges
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