Gymnastics rocks!

July 11, 2007 by Barbara.

Reid had her first gymnastics class last night. She had been interested but a bit reserved when we talked about it. Once we were at the gym, though, she became more and more eager. We watched the kids in the earlier class finish and, by the time it was our turn, Reid was nearly vibrating with excitement.

The class started with stretching and warming up activities. We ran and hopped like kangaroos and then “froze” into stars or balls or tunnels. We stretched various body parts and sang some songs, too. Reid didn’t want to do a couple of the stretches but I’ll try to get her to try them at home. She kept a smile on her face and in her eyes throughout.

There was a circuit of activities to complete, too. Reid walked up a wall to do a handstand, or at least she gave it a really good try. In an unmistakable tribute to my sense of self in space, the first couple of times she tried to set herself up with her head closest to the wall instead of her bottom. I’m not sure that I put the hand prints that were to be her guide the proper distance from the wall but with a little help from me, she was able to do her handstand. And she was proud of herself! She held onto a climbing pole and then slid down it without complication and then climbed a ladder to a platform and jumped onto a fluffy pad. Being a cautious sort of kid - sometimes - she insisted on holding one of my hands for this big jump. Being Reid, a kid who will climb anything, she clamored up the closely spaced rungs of the second ladder and back down them with ease. I think it must be designed to work on dexterity. Maybe Reid’s spatial issues are only for upside down tasks. There was a mat that was right about the height of Reid’s knees that she had to step up onto without using her hands. I was impressed with her arms at the handstand station but wow! She has strong legs and good balance. The last station was a nylon tunnel to climb through and then we started over. Reid couldn’t believe that she got to do the activities again and again. What a great place gymnastics was!

But wait, there was more. After about 10 minutes, we went to the balance beams. As soon as we got near, Reid tried scurrying for the beam but the teacher had us sit on the floor for instructions. The teacher said that the kids are sometimes timid and so at first they just climbed onto the beam and hopped off. After doing that a few times, they walked along with greater or lesser success. Reid has been walking along the curb at daycare for ages and so was pretty good at walking on the beam. She lacks confidence but I spotted her only slightly.

At last it was time for our class to go the trampolines. The kids were told to hop along the long trampoline to which we were led. Reid hopped on the spot as we waited. She managed a hop as soon as she got on the trampoline but the forward momentum soon led her to a sort of run-hop. The teacher gently encouraged her to stop and start hopping again. Reid hopped more times on each turn. She loved each turn, hopping or not.

We finished up in the foam pit - a pit with 1 foot cubes of foam. Reid sort of swam over the top of the cubes but I sank much deeper. I wonder why ;+)

As we left, Reid was asking when she got to go again. I’m hoping that it’s much less hot and humid next week since there was no air conditioning. Her enthusiasm made it a good experience for me but I’d have taken A/C. What a whiner, eh?

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