Jan 6, Coordisports Physical Education

Preschool January 6, 2023

Mr Shuhei comes to CGK Preschool every two weeks to lead his super fun P.E. lessons.
Each column will feature some insights or stories about physical development, reports for each P.E. lesson, and share some YouTube videos showing some physical activities that you can try at home with your child.

Commentary Article on Exercise

Let's take a look at Orientation, the 4th of the seven coordination motor abilities. Orientation is the ability to accurately asses the relative positions of yourself and your opponent. Good Orientation ability allows you to instantly determine how far away you and your opponent are so that you can adjust your movements accordingly. It's easy to imagine this like a game of tag. If you are far away from the person who is "it", you move slowly, but if they get close, you run away quickly. This run-away movement, and how fast you run, is based on the distance between you whoever is "it". This is Orientation. A baseball runner also decides whether to run to the next base or not by assessing their distance from the ball, don't they? Not to mention, batting in baseball, kicking in soccer, hitting with a tennis racket or a pool cue, etc., all require us to measure the distance between the ball and ourselves (or our tools). To practice at home, a good game is throwing garbage into the trash bin. Once you've mastered it, you can train yourself further by throwing things with your eyes closed. Have fun with it, just don't make a mess of your house.

Jungle Class (3-year-olds) Activity Report

Fun with Friends
P.E. 2023 has begun. Let's enjoy the coming year! Well, the first P.E. class of 2023 was held indoors. We did ① Animal Imitation exercises, played ② the Rock-Paper-Scissors game, and did ③ Mat and Bar Exercises. The animal imitation exercises are a favorite with the children. They imitated the movements of bears, crocodiles, and rabbits. Imitating bears can train the arms to support weight, imitating crocodiles encourages free hip movement and imitating rabbits teaches students to move their hands and feet separately to leap over the vaulting box. Next, in pairs, we played Rock-Paper-Scissors. The winner of Rock-Paper-Scissors stands with spread legs. The loser has to pass between the legs of the winner. Rock-Paper-Scissors is generally considered suitable for older children, as the rules are a little difficult for young children, but the students of the Jungle Class enjoyed this activity with their friends. On the horizontal bar, they tried to do the "Balance chair". They were able to sit on the horizontal bar. It was the first time for them doing an exercise with their heads above the bar, so they were a little hesitant. In 2023, we will gradually increase our horizontal bar skills.

[Video] Swallow Pose, Ninja Moves, Balance Chair | Make sure your belly button slightly above the horizontal bar!
Mountain Class (4-year-olds) Activity Report

Jump the Vaulting Box like a Frog!
Happy New Year! Looking forward to working together again this year! Today's P.E. class was held indoors because of the cold winter weather. We played ① the Rock-Paper-Scissors game and ② practiced on the Vaulting box and ③ did Mat / Vaulting box / Horizontal bar exercises. The Rock-Paper-Scissors game is played in pairs and both the winner and the loser have a role to play. The children played wheelbarrow and other games. To lead up to the vaulting box, we jumped like frogs, which helped prepare the children for the straddle jump. The children get down on all fours and put their hands as far away as possible. Then they jump so that their feet overtake their hands. This trains the sense of leaning forward and allows them to do the straddle jump. After that, the children actually tried the straddle jump on the easiest level of the vaulting box, and many of the children were able make the jump on their own. When I talked with the teacher, she said that these children regularly play on the vaulting box with the children in the Sky class. The children know the key point, to "land your feet in front of your hands". This is an exercise that can be done at home as well, so please encourage your children to try it.

[Video] Frog & Straddle jump ◯: Feet ahead of hands & hips up high, ×: Feet behind hands, hips down.
Sky Class (5-year-olds) Activity Report

Enjoy What You Can't Do
There are only three months left of P.E. at CGK Preschool. In spite of this, we all want to enjoy fun exercises until the end. Let's enjoy P.E.! So today, P.E. class was held indoors. We played the ① Rock-Paper-Scissors game and ② Jumping Marionette ③ Horizontal bar / Vaulting box, and ④ the Forward Roll Relay. Jumping Marionette is a game where variations are added while jumping. For example, the feet do the "rock-paper" jump, while the hands do the opposite, "paper-rock". Also, the feet do “rock-rock-paper- “, in three beats, while the arms do “rock-paper” in two beats, changing the rhythm as you jump. Trying to move your body while thinking about these rhythms will build neural circuits in the brain. It's surprisingly difficult, please give it a try. On the vaulting box, we did closed-leg jumps. Previously, we did straddle jumps with legs open, but this time we do closed-leg jumps. In past experiences, I have seen some children naturally split their legs once they reach the run-up and take-off. When they become elementary school students, they will be exposed to an even greater variety of sports and exercises. That's why it's important for them to try new movements while they can. It's OK if they can't do it, it's natural not to be able to do something the first time. Everybody laughed today, even if they couldn't make the jump. Let's continue trying new things, with a positive attitude to enjoy even what we can't do!

[Video] Closed-leg jumps, from the side view.