WAG 2-3 yo fitness class

[BarCoach]

I've begun teaching a class called gym & fit for 2-3 year olds at a facility that offers childbirth classes, mom's groups, etc. They bought me a low beam and two panel mats and i also have access to a tunnel, a few cones and hula hoops, have been promised bean bags at some point, and a parachute. Im running out of ideas for things to do and we've only had two classes (its a 6 week session). Every class we warm up with running, galloping, hopping, bear walk, etc then do a stretch. Then i set up a circuit with forward roll on the panel mat, through the tunnel, jump over the cones, walk across the beam, or something similar. Then we play parachute and class is over. But the time drags and i often think i extend the activities too long just because i need to fill the time. Looking for ideas for what i can do with limited equipment. Thanks.

 

[txgymfan]

How long is your class? Kids at that age have very short attention spans. Do you have any music? I would use a CD player and do some fun kids songs with motions. Do the same songs and motions each week and they will soon learn the music, even if they don't always do the actions. Head sholders knees and toes, the hokey pokey etc. You could also have one song of just dancing to warm up. Buy a few cheap scarves and have them dance with the scarves, they love it.

You could also get a jump rope. Tape it to two chairs (try painters tape) have them go over or under the rope. Actually, painters tape is great. You can make X's on the floor and have them follow the X's, crawl, walk, try to hop. etc. I will try to think of more. Good luck.

 

[Amusibus]

Don't forget the bubbles! Kids ths age LOVE bubbles, get the gymboreee ones that last a bit longer and use a wand. It is great for fine motor coordination if you have the kids try to catch them on their fingertips. And for those kids who try to eat or lick them off the floor (there will be some), have them blow hard on the bubble to pop it instead. Uses up a good 5 to 10 minutes.

 

[txgymfan]

One more thought. Do lots of pretend activities. You could even do a theme of a week. So you could have them be animals, Elephants and lions are great and the obstacle couse could be your zoo, Olympics and pretend to swim, jump, hurdle, run; Garden with flowers, butterflys, trees, bugs, Winter sports pretend to ski, and skate.

 

[BarCoach]

Thank you so much. Great ideas. Any more?