The methodology behind teaching preschool and school-age children cartwheels is quite different. When working with children under the age of six and helping them understand where to put their feet, where to place their hands, or where to look in the middle of a skill, you should provide them with visual cues. Visual cues are the secrets to teaching cartwheels to the little ones.
Let’s use cartwheels as an example. To begin teaching a cartwheel to a 2-year-old, you should start by asking him to side bunny hop, thus creating the necessary lateral movement. Rabbit jumps are performed by lifting forward from a support placing both hands on the ground. Ask them to move their hands and then their feet continuously across the mat. After they have performed this move, continue with the cartwheel. Put a hula hoop in front of them. Ask them to touch the hoop with their front toe. Tell them to put their hands in the hoop and jump their feet to the other side. Providing them with a visual cue (the hoop) that gives them a place to put their hands and a space to land their feet. If you are not sure which foot should go in front for the somersault…ask them to do a horse kick (like a handstand where the feet kick alternately in the air) and not which foot was kicked first. The other leg is usually the cartwheel leg. Set up as many stations as you can, because repetition is also a must in learning for a preschooler. Have stations set up to encourage children to “jump around” them. We use what we call our “flip factory”. We installed a line of double cones so that there is an alley to go through. Place rings on the floor where you want the gymnasts to cartwheel. Have a row of stacked panel mats, each with a hoop on top. Also use the small trapezoidal pieces with a hoop on top. Lay stacked panel mats or trapezoidal pieces on their sides to create a wall to tumble between. Then a row of hoops about 3′ apart for the “flip machine”. We also have a 2′ by 5′ exercise mat marked with sticky paper hand and foot prints indicating the location of the cartwheels. One side of the mat is marked “left-handed” and the other “right-handed.” Give your 5-year-olds chalk on their hands and a line for them to do somersaults to better understand the principle behind this four-beat skill. Also, emphasize a thrust at the beginning and end of the skill. Any visual cue will work. Ethafoam pieces, carpet squares, shapes cut out of vinyl or felt…anything that allows the child the opportunity to visually see where to put their hands and feet. This will make learning the cartwheel easier to speed up.
An article about teaching little ones to cartwheels wouldn’t be complete without mentioning barrels, tilt mats, mailboxes, donuts, and trapezoids. This innovative piece of equipment should be a staple in every gym in America. The amount of decreased spotting and increased learning is enormous, and is not limited simply to preschool-age children. Different size barrels and inclines are available for all sizes of gymnasts and can be used to teach simple skills like forward twists to back somi and ½ on ½ off jumps. Its uses will only be limited to your imagination.
In conclusion, the idea is to provide these young gymnasts with visual cues that allow for easier comprehension with less effort on the part of the teacher and student. Teaching preschoolers to cartwheel can be a fun, challenging, and rewarding experience with a small amount of equipment and imagination. Seeing results so quickly with these young children can be their greatest joy in teaching.