Warm up
Ask children to sit in a space and remind them that each gymnastics
lesson will start with a warm up. Choose a child to say why it is
important to warm up their bodies and another to explain how the
body changes during exercise. Discuss why it is important to
exercise.
Play 'Simon Says' using movements from the previous lesson.
Simon says 'use your hands and feet to move slowly around the room.
Use your hands and feet to move sideways across the room, backwards,
forwards. Use your hands and feet to move quickly around the room'.
Simon says 'jump and make a stretched shape in the air' etc.
Floor Work
Ask children to sit in a space and explain that in today's lesson
they will be balancing in different ways. Discuss what we mean by
balancing then give children a few minutes to practice balancing in
different ways. Interact with children while they are doing this,
discussing what parts of their bodies they are using and suggesting
ways to improve their movements. Look for examples of different
balances. Discuss the importance of safety.
Stop the children and ask
some children to demonstrate their balances. The rest of the class
should describe the part of the body on which they are balancing and
the shape they are making. Is the balance a stretched or a curled
one? Discuss the different parts of the body that could be used. Can
anyone think of a different part that has not been used
already? Give
children chance to practice some of the balances they have seen made
by other children. Balancing on backs, tummies, sides, bottoms,
shoulders etc. Encourage them to think about the shape they are
making in the balance. Emphasise that balance is a position of
stillness. Tell children that a balance can be on a large or a small
part of the body. Challenge them to find balances on smaller body
parts if they have not already done so. Can you balance on two hands
and one foot? One hand and one foot etc. Can they balance when the
body is near to the floor or stretched away from the floor?
Low Apparatus
Remind children about the agreed rules for putting out apparatus
safely then divide them into groups to put the apparatus out. Ask
children to sit quietly when they have completed the task given and
to watch and check that other children have put out apparatus
correctly. Have enough apparatus for five or six different
groups. Ask each group to sit by a different set of apparatus then
explain that you want children to explore ways of moving over,
under, around and along the apparatus including at least one balance
in their movement. Give children a few minutes to do this then
choose some children to demonstrate what they have done. The rest of
the class should describe what they are doing and the body parts
they are using.
Ask children to walk to their next set of apparatus,
a group at a time, and to stand until everyone has changed. Tell
children that this time you want them to include both quick and slow
movements when they use the apparatus but they must remain quite
still when they make their balance. Encourage them to consider if
they use a quick or a slow movement to come out of their balance.
Interact with the different groups asking children to describe what
they are doing.
Tell children to change the apparatus groups again.
This time encourage them to change from large stretched shapes to
small curled shapes within the same balance. Challenge them to
perform two different balances that follow on from one
another. Give
children opportunities to practice these skills on other groups of
apparatus if time permits.
Remind children of the rules for putting
the large apparatus away safely then ask children to do so. When
they have finished ask them to find a space on the floor and lie
down.
Cool Down
Ask children to balance on two feet while they make a stretched
shape then to slowly curl the body up small close to the ground.
Tell children to quickly make the stretched shape again then to
slowly curl up once more. Ask them to relax on their backs with
their arms lying by their sides while the teacher recaps on the
skills learnt during today's lesson.
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