PE Gymnastics inspired by Jack and the Beanstalk January 2022
We have started a new unit of PE this week, gymnastics. I did explain to the children that we weren't quite at the stage of doing gymnastics like we see of the TV but that we would be learning some of the key skills. The first few lessons are all based on the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.
This week we read the first part of the story up to where the beanstalk grows and Jack decides to climb it. Then we thought about different balances that would reflect different parts of the beanstalk. A tuck position for the seed, standing tall for the height of the beanstalk, a star shape to be as wise as the beanstalk, a pike shape for the branches and a straddle shape for the roots of the beanstalk. We used this positions to get us warmed up. After this, we practised balancing on different parts of the body, learning to hold our muscles tight so that we didn't wobble so much. Top tips when we are standing on one leg, are to look forward at something that is still, hold our arms out wide or hold on to our ear lobes gently.
After lots of exploration, the children were asked to put a sequence of three balances together, holding each one for the count of 5 as well as having a starting position and a finishing position. They worked really hard on these and then I split the class in half so that they could watch each other's sequences and to give positive feedback about what balances they liked.
