"Teaching Elementary Gymnastics " by Tom Winiecki

Gymnastics is a terrific activity, especially at the elementary level. It develops areas such as spatial awareness, body awareness, self-confidence; as well as increasing areas like strength, flexibility and endurance.

There are many safe, quality progressions for teaching basic skills such as forward roll, backward roll, cartwheel and round off. Here are the progressions we've used at Mott Road Elementary School with a lot of success. Try them and see how they work for you.

Forward Roll:

We begin this with our first graders. We have them stand with their legs apart. They then place their hands on the mat near their feet (the closer to the feet the better). They are then told to look through their legs until they see the ceiling. When they see the ceiling, they should push with their toes. This will prevent the top of their head from hitting the mat. We tell them that they know that they did it correctly, if they feel the back of their head touch the mat. If they feel the top of their head touch, they need to look more for the ceiling and push with their toes more.

Backward Roll:

We have a lot of fun with this one. It's kind of involved, but the kids remember it year after year.

We start the story this way: "You are waiters, or waitresses in a pizza restaurant. You are bringing two pizzas (they pick the toppings!) out to a customer."

This is what it looks like: The kids squat down and hold their hands as if they are balancing a pizza in each hand (palms up, thumbs point at ears, elbows point straight ahead).

The story continues this way: "They hit a wet spot on the floor and fall and squish the pizzas on the floor. The boss gets mad, so he starts yelling! You don't want to hear it so you plug your ears, with your knees!"

This is what it looks like: From the original squat position, the kids roll backwards until the palms of their hands are both on the mat. To keep themselves round, they try to put their knees in their ears. Everything up to this point is done on a flat mat.

The story continues this way: "After you've fallen, squashed the pizzas and covered your ears, you see your favorite team score a touchdown in the Super Bowl (we do our tumbling unit right around Super Bowl time). You're very excited, so you signal touchdown!"

This is what it looks like: Now we move to an incline mat. As they roll backwards down the incline, doing everything they've done before; palms on mat and knees on ears, they push with their hands to complete the roll.

I'll admit this particular story is a bit involved, but the kids remember it year after year!

If someone has trouble getting over correctly, because they don't stay tucked, we have another option. We give them a ball (any size will do, we use 7" gator balls). The student is to hold the ball between their thighs and their chest. If they open up during the roll, the ball will fall out. They have to stay tucked to keep the ball.

Cartwheel: (Gr. 3-4)

We used to tell our classes that we were about to learn a cartwheel. We were then bombarded with statements like: "I can't do those," or "I crash all the time!" We've gotten around that by not telling them what we are about to do.

We get everyone around a mat and ask for a demonstrator. We then tuck one end of a jump rope under the long edge of the mat. We then hold the other end up at an angle. We tell our demonstrator that their job is to put their hands on the mat on the near side of the rope and to put their feet on the other side of the rope. They are also told that they are not allowed to touch the rope. This eliminates the idea of doing a forward roll over the rope, or doing a handstand with a rollout. We also say no bridges. Since the rope is on an angle, they can pick any height of the rope to go over.

Any time a student can go from their hands on one side of the rope to their feet on the other side, they are successful in a variation of a cartwheel! The higher they get their feet, the more "traditional" their cartwheel will look. I'm not so much interested in perfect cartwheels, as I am interested in reducing the number of kids that say that they can't do a cartwheel.

For those that still have trouble landing on their feet, we have another option. We put a stack of mats (12"-18" high) at one end of their mat. They stand on their stack and face the other end of their mat. We tell them to put their hands on their stack and kick their feet so they land on the lower part of their mat. This gives their feet another second to rotate under them to allow them to land on their feet. Be careful though. Kids that can easily do a cartwheel may "over rotate" when doing it off a stack.

Roundoff: (Gr. 3-4)

We always make sure that our students have had experience with a "kick-up" before we begin roundoffs. Everything here, the way we teach it comes directly from a "kick-up."

Again, we don't tell our kids that we are about to learn a roundoff. We begin by drawing a circle on the center of the mat. We also draw a "1" at the bottom of the circle (at "6:00"). We then ask the kids to do a kick-up starting with their feet at the "1" and placing their hands anywhere in the circle. They must land with their feet back on the "1."

Next, I write a "2" next to the "1" around the circle (at "5:00"). They once again start at the "1", do a kick-up with their hands in the circle and make their feet land on the "2." Note, since their hands are placed inside the circle, their hand-positioning can and will change automatically, depending on where their feet need to land.

Always start on the "1." Do a kick-up (hands in the circle) and make their feet now land on the number "3." You have drawn this around the circle next to the "2" (at "3:00"). Eventually the kids end up starting with their feet at the bottom of the circle, and kicking their feet all the way to the top of the circle. Next thing they will know is that they will do a roundoff without realizing it. A true "ah-ha!" moment if there ever was one!

These progressions have been successful with us. I hope they work for you as well!

If you have any questions about these activities, or anything else we do, visit our Mott Road Elementary School web site at or contact me directly at twiniecki@fm.cnyric.org

Send comments on this article to Tom Winiecki