Week 1 - Gymnastics

Session equipment

2 crash mats
6 gym/scatter mats
1 wedge or alternative slope per 3 students
markers
20 hula hoops
volleyball (or similar)

Download Gymnastics - Week 1 task card to support teaching before and during the sport session.

Fast start - Leader balance

Equipment

No equipment requred

Activity set-up

Divide students into groups of 3-4.
Select a leader for each group. .

How to play

Teacher selects a locomotor movement.
Students follow their selected leader while performing the movement.
On the teacher's signal the leader stops to perform different static balances (for example, one foot, two feet and knee balances).
All students attempt to replicate this balance.
Once the leader has performed a balance they move to the back to allow for a new leader.

Select card to download.

Skill development - Whole class

Coach says

Dominant movement pattern: Statics

Skill focus: Static balances

Equipment: No equipment

How to play: Using the rules of ’Simon says’, teacher calls out commands for players to perform the static balances shown on the right.

Ask players to demonstrate how to perform various static balances.
Static balances include angry cat, tuck sit, side lunge, arabesque, walking on hands, v-sit and arch.
Use role models to identify the shape and position that is most like what you are after.
Direct students to move around playing area using a designated locomotor movement. Call out various static balances for students to perform using 'Coach says' as in the traditional game of Simon Says.

Skill development games - small groups

Choosing teams

In a sport education approach, affiliation is promoted by students being a member of the same team over a period of time. It is intended that students remain in these teams for the duration of each sport program for the skill development and the modified small-sided games, so that they can develop and learn together.

Place students in equal teams, 4 teams is optimal, at the beginning of the skill development session. Strategies for forming groups can be found in the Game-based learning in sport and physical activity e-learning course.
To further promote affiliation students can decide on a team name.
Once the teams are determined you can add the team and student names to the Gymmastics draw template.

Teaching tip

Teacher to model prone safety landing to students.
Make sure players fall with arms outstretched and legs together.
When landing, elbows are to be bent into the sides to take the body weight softly, and the face is to be turned to the side.

Activity 1 - Mexican wave

Dominant movement pattern: Statics

Skill focus: Safe landing techniques

Equipment: Crash mat

How to play: Players stand in a circle and one player demonstrates a prone safety landing. Each player in turn around the circle repeats this skill.

Players stand in a circle around a crash mat.
The first player starts the ‘Mexican wave’ by performing a prone safety landing.
Each player in turn around the circle repeats the prone safety landing.
Repeat the process by starting at different points of the circle with one wave attempting to catch the next.

CHANGE IT!!

Players begin from a squat position.

Activity 2 - Get into it

**One teacher must be supervising this station.

Dominant movement pattern: Rotation

Skill focus: Forwards and backwards safety rolls

Equipment: 6 gym/scatter mats per group

How to play: Players in threes stand on points of a triangle and perform two safety rolls to one another.

One player performs 2 forward safety rolls (on scatter mats) towards another player in their group.
The pattern continues around the triangle.
Repeat with backward safety rolls.

Safety

Players must not roll on their head when performing rolls.
Rolls must always be performed on a mat.
Limit the number of rolls to avoid players fatiguing and compromising on technique.

Teaching tip

When performing a forward safety roll, have legs slightly apart, get low to the ground, keep hips high when starting, and rotate over one shoulder.
When performing a backwards safety roll, have legs slightly apart, get low to the ground, turn the head to one side and roll over one shoulder. Spring up, rather than out, at the end.

Frogs and Lily Pads - Playing for Life Activity Card

Activity 3 - Frogs and lily pads

Dominant movement pattern: Spring and landing, locomotion

Skill focus: Jumping, landing and teamwork

Equipment: 4 cones to mark a 10m x 10 square (the pond), hoops (lily pads)

How to play: Players continuously jump from the pond to lily pads using a one-foot takeoff and two-foot landing technique.

Randomly distribute the hoops inside the pond.
Players jog in between jumping on lily pads or in pond and see how many they can land on in a given amount of time (e.g. 60 seconds).
If there is more than one frog on the lily pad, it will sink. If a player jumps onto a lily pad with another player already on it, the original player must immediately find another lily pad to jump onto.
Players may jump into the pond as well as onto the lily pads.
Introduce a tagger. Players must jump around the pond and avoid the tagger. Players are safe if they are standing on a lily pad, but as soon as another player jumps on that lily pad the original player must find a new one. If a player is tagged, they become the new tagger.

Activity 4 - Run the circle

Dominant movement pattern: Statics

Skill focus: Balance and teamwork

Equipment: music, volleyball or similar

How to play: Players sitting in a circle try to pass a ball around using only their feet.

Use one ball.
Players sit in a circle, facing inwards.
One player picks up a large ball with their feet and passes it to the player on their right.
Players continue to pass the ball around the circle.
Time how quickly the ball can travel around the circle.

Safety

Players should maintain a straight back and avoid arching.
Stomachs should be tucked in.

Teaching tips:

Players can place their hands behind their backs on the floor to help balance themselves.

Modified small sided games

It's time for competition!

Teams compete against each other in the relay game outlined below.

Allocate 4 points for a win, 3 points for second. 2 points for 3rd and 1 point for 4th for each relay game played. You may also award alternative scoring points, a team can score a point for teamwork, skill in performing balance, encouragement of others and displaying sportsmanship.

Record results and points in the School sport program results spreadsheet.

Remember, to give students an update of the leader board each week.

Stone, bridge and tree relay race

Skill focus: Rotation movements, teamwork

Equipment: An indoor/outdoor playing area 20 metres in length, a starting cone for each team and three cones spaced 5 metres apart.

How to play: Players race each other in a relay using various static and movements skills.

Teams of 6–8 players line up behind their starting cones.
When teacher says ’GO!’, the first player from each team runs out to their first cone and forms a stone.
The second player from each team jumps over their ‘stone’, and then runs to the second cone to form a bridge.
The third player from each team jumps over their ‘stone’, crawls under the ‘bridge’, and then runs to the third cone to form a tree.
The fourth player jumps over the ‘stone’, crawls under the ‘bridge’, runs around the ‘tree’ and back to take the place of the ‘stone’. The ‘stone’ takes the place of the ‘bridge’. The ‘bridge’ then takes the place of the ‘tree’, who then runs to the end of the line.
The game finishes when all players have had a turn at each of the positions.