Benefits of Gymnastics

Extended participation in gymnastics or trampolining classes provides children with many physical, cognitive and psychological benefits. Skills children gain from participation in gymnastics or trampolining will continue benefiting them throughout their lives.

Physical Benefits

• An increase in muscular strength, flexibility and endurance
• The ability to relax
• Correct body alignment while walking, standing, jumping etc.
• The knowledge of how to fall and roll safely
• Increased agility and coordination

Cognitive Benefits

• Awareness of the body
• Awareness of space and where the body is in it
• Awareness of relationships: body parts to each other and the apparatus
• Awareness of relationships with others

Psychological Benefits

• The joy of movement mastery
• Discipline and self control
• The exercise habit as a pleasurable daily occurrence
• A confident self image and a positive attitude towards their bodies
• Trust in one's own abilities: move from a world of "I can't" to "I can"

SOCIAL – it helps children to understand socially acceptable behaviour, respect for other people, manners, sharing and waiting a turn. Co-operation and integration are encouraged at all times.

PHYSICAL – it contributes to the development of physical and motor skills It can lay the foundation for strength, endurance (muscular, respiratory, cardiovascular), agility, balance, flexibility, power, co-ordination, good posture and relaxation.

It also provides the child with the experience of managing their bodies with assurance and with a measure of success; body control, adaptability, coping with stress, monitoring a situation and responding to it, manual dexterity, improved accuracy, alertness, timing, ability to stop and start quickly, etc.

LINGUAL – it encourages the correct use of language when referring to skills, apparatus and motions, giving the children the opportunity to express their feelings and opinions.

INTELLECTUAL – it allows children the ability to think for themselves, to stimulate their imaginations and to solve problems safely.

CREATIVE – it gives children the opportunity to act out a creative theme, whether it be a fairy story, nursery rhyme or an everyday action such as things in the home, trip to the zoo, etc.

EMOTIONAL – it reinforces and enhances learning through the use of music, colours, numbers, shapes and vocabulary – beneath / behind, right / left, counting, etc.

What is the importance of play for a child?

The fundamental principle is that children learn through play and that it is central to all young children’s learning from birth through school years and beyond.

Play makes a major contribution to all aspects of children’s development and

learning and gymnastics and movement allows them to learn in a broad

variety of ways - listening, observing, talking, exploring, investigations and

ex perimenting whilst at the same time allowing them to draw their own

conclusions. Both children and coaches are encouraged to use their

imagination, act out situations and develop relationships