Improving children’s fitness through tumbling

Tumbling is a really fun way of improving the fitness levels in children but this requires a level of technique to achieve perfect execution. Before starting on the tumbling exercises the children will have to do some warm-up which may take the form of general calisthenics or limbering exercises. This warm-up should not be done individually. the initial stages of teaching tumbling techniques is absolutely vital in ensuring that the children will progress smoothly to the more complicated techniques of doing these stunts. As an instructor you should ensure that the basics are perfectly understood. Take time to teach these because it is from these basics that all the other more complicated variations are learnt. As much variety as is possible should be taught. The children need not notice this due to their limited interest spans but the net effect is that as these varieties are taught the kids will be mastering the basics.
The best method to teach tumbling techniques is to present them as part of a routine. The instructor should ensure that little attention is dedicated to the starting and finishing form of these techniques. All the techniques taught should be placed in the context of a continuous and progressive routine. Of course this progression should be carefully planned after assessing the complications and hazards involved in performing the stunt. Each stunt ends with the most important stunt and therefore the preceding stages must first be thoroughly understood. The instructor needs to be well versed in the execution of these stunts and he/she is therefore expected to make modifications and improvements to suit the situation.
Tumbling is best taken up as a group activity and therefore the best way to teach this is through the physical education class. it is very important that the performers take up the stunts as a group and in this way the moves will all be synchronized. Group performances are very productive in encouraging the mediocre performer to improve on his technique for fear of being the weak link in the team. This also applies for the indifferent performer. The instructor can choose to train the children in pairs or in small groups for this reason. The same partners should be maintained when performing these stunts because the children will have developed mutual confidence.
The most basic of stunts are really simple movements that are used to demonstrate the various variations and progressions that can be achieved. Each of these motions can be used as the beginning of a given progression. The instructor can make the stunts more interesting for the kids by ensuring that they start and end at different places. To this effect the instructor can let the stunts be performed on wrestling mats or on a grassy lawn. Alternatively, a number of mats can be placed together to form a square. The ideal dimensions for the square are preferably 16X25 sq.ft. The centre circle should be 5-8 ft in diameter. With this sort of foundation a number of pyramid formations can be achieved. The children having been organized into groups can take turns to demonstrate what they have learnt.