Teddies & Toys Galore!
It’s time to bring your teddies for an adventure at Kindergym!
Come along to our Teddy Bear’s Picnic, rummage through the indoor toy box and take a hop, skip and jump through our playground 🧸
Discover the Set Up
This theme we will be spending our time on the floor, beams and rings & ropes.
On no, the toys have fallen out of the toy box and are all over the Floor! We will find toy cars, puzzles and board games spread out to explore. We love the life sized snakes & ladders station where we can climb to the top of the ladder, then slide down the pole just like the snake.
Over at the Rings & Ropes we are taking an imaginary step outdoors. At our gymnastics playground, we will balance on the see-saw, climb up the rockwall and slide down the slide.
If you go down to the woods today... you will find a Teddy Bear’s picnic on the Beams! Our teddies are ready for an adventure. We’ll start by rocking out of bed before beginning our journey up and over the hills and along the bumpy road until we reach the tea party. Then we will cross the bridge and crawl through the teddy bear’s cubby house to collect all the delicious food to take to the picnic!
Movement Matters
Roly poly? Somersault? It’s a forward roll! A forward roll at gymnastics isn’t simple as our body is challenged to control a complete rotation without losing balance or awareness of our position in space. Orienting our body while upside-down relies on a strong vestibular sense.
What is the Vestibular system? Put simply, it is the awareness of our body in space.
The vestibular system is also known as our balance system, it’s one of our sensory systems. It’s also one of the first fully functioning sensory systems to develop, beginning with the stimulation of all that rocking in utero!
Vestibular refers to head position and vestibular stimulation occurs when we experience movement through time and space in combination with the earth’s gravitational forces. Early childhood is the prime time for children to develop their vestibular sense and it won’t happen while they are sitting still! Rolling, turning, swinging, jumping & tipping upside down are all movements that stimulate this system.
A strong vestibular system produces a great sense of balance, which converts to good overall coordination and muscle tone. Muscle ‘tone’ is our muscle’s ‘state-of-readiness’. At rest, muscle tone will be low, but when we want to move, it will rise in response – otherwise we would go nowhere! Without a properly functioning vestibular system, a child may find it hard to ‘hold themselves up’ properly. They may opt to lie on the floor instead of sitting up during circle time or lean on their elbow while at their desk. Kindergym provides lots of vestibular stimulation and the forward roll is a skill that some children will repeat again and again as they naturally seek this form of sensory stimulation.
Before we attempt our first forward roll, we break the skill down by practising the start and finish positions, tuck rocks and donkey kicks. When we are ready to bring the skill together, we start by rolling downhill. Performing a roll on a decline helps to create the momentum it takes to complete a forward roll. Here is a breakdown of the forward roll to ensure it is performed correctly and safely:
We look for a strong start position, standing up tall with feet apart and arms stretched up to the sky is a great start
2. The next step is to reach down to the ground until our hands are flat on the ground near our feet with our bottom high in the air & knees slightly bent
3. Before we start to roll, we need to remember to keep our chin tucked in - right onto our chest!
4. The roll is commenced by leaning forward and kicking slightly, like a donkey kick. During the roll, we stay in a nice tight tuck shape which requires a lot of core strength!
5. A completed forward roll will finish in a tuck sit or standing up tall
Did you know that a forward roll is the building block for many other gymnastic skills, such as a handstand forward roll, front sault on floor or forward roll over the bars?
Combining all this fun with learning is what we love doing and we are looking forward to hosting lots of friends at our final Teddy Bear’s Picnic next week to share the excitement. See you there!