Teaching Tumbling to Tots

The methodology behind teaching preschool and school-age cartwheels is quite different. When working with children under the age of six and making them understand where to put their feet, where to place their hands, or where to look in the middle of a skill, you need to provide them with visual cues. Visual cues are the secrets to teaching children to spin.

Let’s use cartwheels as an example. To begin teaching a 2-year-old cartwheel, you start by asking him to do a side jump, thereby creating the necessary lateral movement. Bunny jumps are performed by piking forward from a stand by placing both hands on the floor. Have them move their hands and then their feet continuously across the rug. Once they have achieved this movement, continue with the cartwheel. Put a hula-hoop in front of them. Have them touch the hoop with their front toe. Have them put their hands on the hoop and jump with their feet to the other side. Providing them with a visual cue (the hoop) that gives them a place to put their hands and a space to rest their feet. If you’re not sure which foot should go forward to do the cartwheel … ask them to do a horse kick (like a handstand where the feet alternately kick in the air) and not which foot got up first. The other leg is usually the cartwheel leg. Set up as many stations as you can, because repetition is also imperative in a preschooler’s learning. Arrange the stations so that children are encouraged to “jump around them.” We use what we call our “cartwheel factory.” We set up a line of double cones so there is an alley to do cartwheels. Place hoops on the floor wherever you want the gymnasts to do a cartwheel. Have a row of stacked panel mats, each with a hoop on top. Also use the small trapezoidal pieces with a hoop on top. Lay stacked panel mats or trapezoidal pieces on their side to create a wall to do cartwheels between. Then a row of hoops about 3 ‘apart for the “wagon wheel machine”. We also have a 2 ‘by 5’ exercise mat marked with contact paper and footprints that indicate the location of the cartwheels. One side of the mat is marked for “left-handed” and one side for “right-handed.” Give your 5-year-olds chalk on their hands and a line for them to do cartwheels so they can better understand the principle behind this four-count skill. Also, emphasize a lunge at the beginning and end of the skill. Any visual cue will work. Ethafoam pieces, carpet squares, vinyl or felt cutouts … anything that allows a child to visually see where to put their hands and feet. This will more easily speed up the learning of the cartwheel.

An article on how to teach kids to spin wouldn’t be complete without the mention of barrels, slanted mats, mailboxes, donuts, and trapezoids. These innovative equipment should be a staple in every gym in America. The amount of decreased detection and increased learning is tremendous and is not simply limited to preschoolers. Different size barrels and inclinations are available for all sizes of gymnasts and can be used to teach simple skills such as rolling back and forth somis and vaults of ½ on ½. Its uses will only be limited to your imagination.

In conclusion, the idea is to provide these young gymnasts with visual clues that allow easier understanding with less effort on the part of the teacher and the student. Teaching preschoolers to spin can be a fun, challenging, and rewarding experience with a small amount of equipment and imagination. Seeing results so quickly with these young children can be your greatest joy in teaching.