Educational, Development and Exploratory Gymnastics:
These are activities that allow the child to self-test or create movements the involve jumping, running, landing etc. This will enhance different abilities such as flexibility, balance coordination and strength. This form of gymnastics that is being taught is non-competitive. The main focus is put on the success and skills that are thought to be achievable by each student. It is not always the case but gymnastics should be a very important part of every school's physical education and should be offered in primary schools through to secondary school. The skills obtained from gymnastics are huge.
These skills include:
- Strength
- Flexibility
- Balance
- Endurance
- Agility
- Self-discipline
- Coordination
- Self-confidence
- Perseverance.
Having these skills will give the students the ability to test themselves in different ways such as, how they are progressing in their new skills and also how well they are able to perform these skills. In education, gymnastics students do not compete against each-other but with themselves. The reason behind this is to allow for the development of competitiveness before, during and after class. Gymnasts should make a goal to increase their total fitness and to maintain it. Gymnasts should also aim to to aid the development of students and help establish an atmosphere where students can participate and cooperate with each-other without conflict arising. The importance of gymnastics does not lie in the accomplishment of learning new and different skills but in the ability of fundamental skills which is more important for preparation for the learning of progression movements.This type of gymnastics will mean developing and progressing in a particular skill. Developing a skill and making it harder than the original movement. It is creating a more complex form of the same general movement. Gymnastics develop fitness, flexibility, co-ordination, balance and physical confidence. When a gymnast has mastered a technique they can develop that technique and make it more difficult or make it look more elegant.This type of gymnastics allows the gymnast to explore different elements of the gymnastics movement chart.
This chart includes:
- Body awareness
- Basic body positions
- Balance
- Support
- Loco-motor skills
- Circular movements
All these skills highlight all the movement patterns used particularly in children's gymnastics development. Exploratory gymnastics allow students to respond to a movement challenge where there is no preciseness expected of the students. This is good thing for students because it allows them to explore how their own body moves and also how to respond to it in a variety of ways that are relevant to their own personal abilities. The focus of the lesson is on problem solving which allows gymnasts to develop body management skills as they solve the movement problems. This method allows for individual differences which means when a child is given the opportunity to solve a certain movement the child will solve it in their own way according to their own age, stage or development. Children who are less physically developed will perform at their own ability levels where as children who are more physically developed will solve problems in ways that balance and co-ordination are required.
These skills include:
- Locomotion - on legs, in support, in hang
- Statics - balance, hang, balance.
- Landings - on feet, hands.
- Spring - from 2 feet, from 1 foot, from 2 feet and/or 2 hands.
- Rotation - around the lateral axis, longitudinal axis or anterior axis.
- Swing - in hang or support on bar or assisted on rope or rings.