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Orangesoda

Proud Parent
I'm considering buying a piece of equipment for my 3 and 4 yr old daughters to play/practice on at home. What will they get the most use out of? A bar? Beam? A certain mat?

The 4 yr old almost has her pullover and back walkover - just to give an idea of skill level. Thanks for the opinions:)
 
We have an 8 " beam and a bar that goes up to 5 " (I think). My oldest DD quickly out grew the bar, but still uses the beam quite often. We also used mattresses and couch pillows for our mats. My younger DDs still play on the bar or I would have sold it. They have no interest in taking up gymnastics though. But it is amazing what they can learn just playing and watching. I wish they would be more interested in it. They can do most of what their big sis can just from watching her in class and trying to copy it at home.
 
I have a home made beam. It's about half a meter off the ground. I would recommend a beam rather than a bar. The bars are very unstable. She will be fine using it now but in a couple of years will have out grown it where a beam would be fine.
 
No bar. Not safe, unless you 1) have proper matting and 2) are a coach with spotting experience. If your oldest is 4, I'd suggest taking any money you might consider putting into home training equipment and instead invest it in a moderate risk fund so that you can plow it all into gym fees later on. When they are starting out, it's all very exciting and they want to do stuff all the time, but the most important thing you can do right now is set limits on what they can do at home both to prevent injury and to keep them from teaching themselves skills with poor form that will have to be corrected later on. Best thing you can do is take them to the playground and let them build their strength by playing hard!

When your oldest daughter is L3-L4, a home beam might be useful, as once they have learned proper technique, they can work on beam handstands and cartwheels at home if that is fun for them.
 
A mat. :)
Did you say your 4yo is practicing back walkovers? I would have her stop immediately. Backbends and bridges aren't safe for someone that young. Not trying to be snarky at all, just trying to prevent possible serious back injuries for her... Search for spondylylosis here.
 
Mats are fantastic. A cheese mat (incline mat), a landing mat, a regular folding mat and a balance beam are all lots of fun!

I like this site for everything except the cheese mats: http://www.nimblesports.com (i like the beams here because you can buy different height braces as they advance)

I like the cheese mats that can fold into a square best, like these: http://www.matsmatsmats.com/gymnast...OGLESHOP-PLA&gclid=CLqrg8mS2b8CFUkQ7Aodc3oAkw

another fun addition is an exercise trampoline. oh, and we have one of the fold up beams, too. bought it on amazon (http://www.amazon.com/The-Beam-Stor...sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1406040100&sr=1-10) it is nice because its not so obtrusive in the living room. everything else stays down in the basement.

we do have a bar down there, too, but had i not found it cheap on craigslist i would dive never invested in it.
 
I'm considering buying a piece of equipment for my 3 and 4 yr old daughters to play/practice on at home. What will they get the most use out of? A bar? Beam? A certain mat?

NO to a bar!

Yes to a practice beam and a good quality mat. A practice beam is typically less than a foot off the floor so there's very little danger of injury.

Having said this, I will say that I installed a pull up bar for my DD in a doorway. The intent of this bar was for conditioning exercises, such as leg lifts and pull ups. I installed this bar not long after DD ripped a towel rack out of her bathroom wall while attempting to do leg lifts. I was quite put out earlier this year when I discovered she was using the pull up bar to do back tuck flyaways on to a mat. :eek:
 
Mine has used her floor beam and practice mat for years, so I think they can be good investments. However, for a 3 and 4 yr old I might stick with an inexpensive yoga mat for now. They shouldn't be doing too much at that age outside of the gym (or in the gym for that matter) and you can trade up as they get older.
 
We bought our dd at 4yr a floor beam(grandparent gift) that folds in half which is great because it slides under beds and a mat (Christmas gift). She still uses the mat and beam occasionally and she's 9 but she's at gym so much now she doesn't really need stuff here at the house.
 
we have a floor beam. However... She finds a way to make just about anything into gym equipment. The dog kennel becomes a bar (the bar over the doorway/gate) to work on kips and other bar stuff. The play set has endless opportunities. Last week she tried to tie jump ropes together and then threw them over a branch in a tree...
 
A mat is a great thing to have. You can use it for a lot of things besides gymnastics. Great for sleepovers, putting in front of tv for a lot of friends to watch movies, building forts, etc. The rest of the equipment ( we bought before we knew) just gathers dust. Once they are on the team there's not enough time in the week to practice or play at home.
 
I second (or third?) the chin up bar. We have a beam (the fold in half one) and a mat. The mat is a total pain, unless you have a space to dedicate to it. The beam was great when she was younger, but the one we have isn't long enough to practice connections and 'doesn't feel right' so it gathers dust. The chin up bar is used daily though. She tap swings into and out of her room (can't walk through the door like a normal person!)
 
The 4 yr old almost has her pullover and back walkover - just to give an idea of skill level. Thanks for the opinions:)
Please discourage her form trying backbends and backwalkovers at home. She is too young to be doing such bending skills as it is and doing them at home means putting more stress on her developing spine.

As for home equipment. I'd start with a folding mat. Encourage them to do rolls, handstands etc. on it vs backbending skills.
 
My DD has a beam and floor mat, and both have gotten a lot of use - for gymnastics and other things. Yesterday they became part of a homemade American Nijna Warrior course that the kids made in the basement, lol. She desperately wants a bar but her HC highly discourages it so that's not happening. We do have a pull-up bar which isn't installed at the moment, but she sometimes will use it for leg lifts and pull-ups.
 
We have a folding floor mat, a pull up bar and an inflatable exercise block that resembles a small cheese mat. The only thing that gets regular use is the floor mat and pull up bar.
 
I second (or third?) the chin up bar. We have a beam (the fold in half one) and a mat. The mat is a total pain, unless you have a space to dedicate to it. The beam was great when she was younger, but the one we have isn't long enough to practice connections and 'doesn't feel right' so it gathers dust. The chin up bar is used daily though. She tap swings into and out of her room (can't walk through the door like a normal person!)


The chin up bar gets daily use. It is in our kitchen doorway so my dd will often do chin ups while talking to me as I am doing dishes or getting dinner ready. My non-gymmies will also take a few turns and is a great conversation piece when guests come over! Who wants to challenge the gymnast in the kitchen? The mats get more use as fort/tv watching pieces than anything else and there is always a problem with the fold up beam, too short, too slippery, too low, too new, etc.......
 
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