Lesson video

Hi, and welcome to our first PE lesson focused on gymnastics.

Today, we are going to have an introduction to basic balance.

Okay.

Before we start our lesson today, we need to take a moment to consider how we can keep safe, in this lesson.

You are going to need a grownup with you for this lesson.

So if you don't have one in the room, can you pause the video now and go and find one.

With your adult, we will run through the rest of the list together to check everything is safe for you to exercise.

Our lesson is going to take place inside today because we're doing some gymnastics.

So we need to think about what space we have available.

We need to have a space that is two metres width, by two metres length, and with nothing overhead that we might bump into.

We might be on tiptoes today with our hands above our heads.

So you need to check that there isn't anything above you that you might bump into.

We're going to work use bare feet.

So any socks and shoes they need to be removed, please.

And make sure the floor isn't slippery.

There isn't anything in your way that might trip you as you are moving around.

We need to also wear comfortable clothing.

So something that you would wear in a PE lesson would be fine.

Shorts and a T-shirt or jogging bottoms and a top.

And if you have long hair like I do, then you're going to need to tie that up either in a ponytail or possibly grip it up above your head.

So that it's out of the way.

Any earrings need to be removed.

Watches, bracelets, rings things that you might catch you as you are moving around.

Pause the video now.

If there's anything that you need to do to get yourself ready for this lesson.

So let's look at what we're learning today.

We're going to begin the lesson with a warmup, to get our body ready for our gymnastics today.

Then, we are going to learn the five basic balances.

After that, we are going to think about how we can improve, our balances.

To make them look more effective.

We're then going to be explore being creative with our balances.

By positioning them in different ways, possibly different directions.

And last of all we are going to reflect, which means think about, the work that we've done and possibly share it.

Okay.

It's time to get ourselves ready for our Gymnastics lesson today.

So we need to begin with a warmup.

Lucas is going to play a game called Cars, with you.

Can you copy his actions, as he moves in different ways in different directions.

Let's see how he gets on.

He's showing you driving along, keeping safe, not bumping into anything.

Now he's on a bumpy road.

So he's having to jump as he moves along.

Next he's on an icy road, so he swerving one way to the next dodge the ice.

And now, he's got a flat tyre! He's having to pump it up! Flat tyre again! Pump it up again.

Now he's reversing.

Can you see how he's looking over his shoulder so that he knows where he's going? It's bumpy road again.

Oh, time to stop! Driving along.

And they started on the motorway.

He's being as speedy as he can.

Driving along.

Oh, it's motorway again! Bumpy road.

Flat tyre! Oh, no! Can you pump yours up.

Bumpy road.

And stop! Reversing again.

Bumpy road.

Flat tyre! Bumpy road again.

I'm stopping! Reversing, being careful to look over his shoulder.

Motorway! Driving again.

Motorway! And bumpy road! Flat tyre! Pump it up.

Bumpy road.

And stop! Reversing.

Motorway!One more time.

And bumpy road.

Flat tyre.

Bumpy road.

And stop! Reversing.

I'm sure you did a brilliant job at that warmup.

And now we're ready for our stretching.

Okay.

It's time for our stretching and mobilisation exercises now.

So I want you to copy Lucas.

As he leads you through a series of movements, that will help you get your body ready for gymnastics.

He's going to begin by stretching his shoulders, up and down.

Up and down.

And now he's going to move his arm in circles reaching as high as he can.

And he's low as he can.

So imagine you've got a paintbrush in your hand and you are maybe painting the biggest circles, that you can.

Now, it's time to take your glue stick and glue your chin to your chest.

Not a real glue stick, all right? Just a pretend one.

Keep your chin on your chest until I tell you to look up.

Now, it's time to glue one of your ears and stick it to your shoulder.

Keep copying Lucas.

I'm sure you're doing a brilliant job.

Silently glue the other ear and stick it to your other shoulder.

Okay.

We are going to put our hands on our hips now and move her hands from one side.

Move our hips from one side to the next.

And now we're going to swing up upper body.

So circling arms left to right as we move.

Be careful not to bump into anything.

Now we're reaching up as high as we can and swing your hands forward.

And we're going to circle our wrist next.

So one hand on our arm and make some circles with that wrist.

Can you swap sides? Keep circling those wrists.

Okay.

We're reaching up really tall now and keep our legs straight as we bend forward.

Don't worry, if you can't touch your toes, just keep those legs straight.

Now it's time to stick one foot to the other one and just gently drop knees down to the floor.

If you feel like you want to, you can try to put your nose onto your toes.

And now it's time to pull one leg out and bend over and see if you can touch your toes.

If you can't touch them, don't worry.

The important thing is to keep that leg straight, and back of your knee is touching the floor.

Swap legs like Lucas has.

And now it's time to stretch the front of our legs.

So, you can put one arm out to the side.

If you need to balance against the wall, you can or if your grownup's there, they can help you to stand still.

You can put your knees so that they're touching them, pull one leg up.

So your heel is touching your bottom.

You keep it there.

Lucas is swapping legs now.

So you repeat that with the other side.

If you need to pause the video, to get yourself into position for these stretches, you can do that.

Okay.

And we are now going to stretch our curves, which is the muscle at the back of our leg, right at the bottom.

So we slide one leg back with both feet facing forward and we bend our front knee.

We have to keep the back leg straight.

And we just hold in that position for about 10 seconds.

Be careful not to lean on your front knee because that places pressure on it.

Just leave your hands to the side where you can put them on your half hips if you want to.

And we're just going to make some circles with our ankles now.

So we're moving our circles of ankles round in circles and wiggling them from side to side.

And then we're swapping legs again, just as Lucas is showing you too.

If you need to hold onto something to help you balance, well you can do this exercise sitting on the floor, that's absolutely fine.

And we lastly just going to raise up and down on our tip toes.

Up and down 10 times, if you can.

It's time to look at star words of the day.

So, today we're going to think about keeping safe.

So safe, is our star word.

And we've been working on that, haven't we? Preparing our space, making sure we have the right clothing on, making sure our hair is tied up, things like that.

But we're going to consider thinking about being safe, all throughout the lesson.

We were also working on some basic balances.

Our first balance is our Tuck balance, and our Star balance.

We're learning our Straight balance, our Pike balance and our Straddle balance.

Okay.

It's time to learn our five basic balances.

So Lucas is going to guide you through each of them using a video, and then we're going to use some photos to go through them step by step.

So first, I just want you to copy Lucas and see if you can learn the names of each of these balances.

The first one, is a Tuck balance.

He's got a lengthened back with knees together and toes touching, holding his hands just below his knees.

Now it's a Straight balance.

So reaching up too with fingers together and toes touching.

The Star balance has a wide base and he's reaching his arms out as wide as he can with his fingers together.

And now we have a Pike balance.

His toes are pointed, arms lifted, fingers together.

Thinking about that really tall back.

And The Straddle, has wide legs with toes pointed.

He's lifting his arms or fingers together.

And again, thinking about his back.

So you will have noticed that when Lucas showed you his balances in that video.

That he was holding his body still, in a position for about three to five seconds.

And that's what a balance is.

It's holding your body still, in a shape for a certain period of time.

How can we use these photos to improve our balances? So, the first balance is our Tuck balance.

Can you see how Lucas has a tall back, with a lengthen spine.

His hands are held together beneath his knees, and his feet are also held together.

Pause the video now.

If you would like to work on this balance.

For The Straight balance, you need straight arms and you need to reach these up high, with your fingers together.

Trying to position your arms so that almost touching your ears.

You also need your feet together.

Remember to hold that position, as still as you can.

Pause the video now, if you would like to work on that balance.

For The Star balance, Lucas is reaching out as far as he can with both of his arms. So we call these straight extended arms. His fingers are held together, and he has a wide base of support with his legs apart but not too wide so that he wobbles.

They have to be wide enough but still he can hold that position, nice and still.

Remember to hold that balance.

For three to five seconds.

If you'd like to pause the video now, to practise that balance, then please do.

Our next balance is The Pike balance, for this balance we need a tall back.

So we're lengthening our spine again.

Think about a piece of string attached to your head pulling you up wards.

So you can feel your spine lengthening, as you'd imagine that.

Fingers are together with arms lifted, and the legs are close together with feet touching.

It'd be really lovely if you could point them.

That finishes off that balance.

For The Straddle balance.

Again, we need to think about that straight back.

So lengthening our spine, as much as we can imagining that piece of string pulling our head up.

We need straight arms again lengthening or extending with fingers together.

And we need wide legs.

Not so wise that we have to bend our knees, but wide enough so that we can keep our legs straight, with the back of our knees on the floor.

If you could point your toes too, they should really finish off this balance.

Pause the video again, if you would like to work on this balance.

Oh, no! Lucas is having some problems with his Straddle.

Can you help him? What do you think he needs to do to improve this balance? That's right.

He needed to lengthen his spine and lift his hands up and his arms up.

So they follow the line of his legs and then lifted.

How many different ways can you show a Star balance? Pause the video now.

So you can be creative and position your body in as many different ways as you can.

In a Star balance.

Lucas is going to show you some of his ideas.

He decided to turn around, to face the opposite direction.

He turned to face one side, and he also laid on his back.

I wonder what ideas you came up with? So we're going to try this activity with a different balance now.

How many different ways can you show a Tuck balance? Pause the video now.

So that you can explore being creative with your balances.

So, Lucas is going to show you some of his favourite positions and directions that he showed his Tuck balance.

He started facing the front.

Then he tried lying on his side, still keeping his knees tucked in.

And lying on his back.

He tried positioning his Tuck to one side.

I'm turning round to the other side.

And now I'm facing the back.

I wonder what ideas you found.

Can you try this activity with the other balances that you've learned today? So we have Pike balance, Straddle balance and Straight balance.

Pause the video now and explore being creative, and show how many different ways, you can show those balances.

I'm sure you came up with lots of fabulous ideas.

Lucas is just going to show you a few examples.

So with The Pike balance, you could try changing your body shape to show The Pike in different positions.

With The Straddle he's given you an example, possibly laying down on your back.

Or even standing up-right and bending forward to touch the toes.

With a straight shape.

You could face any direction or again, lay on your back.

I'm sure you came up with lots of ideas like these.

So it's time to celebrate and be proud of all that you've done today.

Well done.

We have learned five basic balances.

Let's see if you can remember the names of them.

Tuck, Straight, Star, Pike, and Straddle.

Well done.

If you'd like to share some of your work, I'm going to show you how to do that in a moment.

I would love to see all of the brilliant examples of how you positioned your body in different directions, in different ways with those balances.

If you would like to share your work with Oak National.

It's important to ask your grownup to do that for you.

So if you'd like to please ask your parents or carer to share your work on Twitter by tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.

I look forward to seeing your work soon.