Gymnastics!

This fall we've been taking Cecilia to gymnastics class, followed by swimming class, nearly every Saturday morning. She has really grown to love gymnastics class, and other than teaching her to jump around, it has taught her how to behave with a leader (the teacher) and to learn as part of a group.

Here are a few random videos of some of the classes. The classes always start with some warm-up exercises. The teacher you see (the big guy) is Marco. You may have to look hard to find Cecilia since she's the smallest one in a crowd of kids and parents.

Sidestepping:


Galloping:


Kicking your feet and walking:


Doing the bear crawl. This one is sort of funny because in the background, you see Cecilia's friend Bronwyn, who loved gymnastics last year, but apparently this year is on strike:


Balancing a bean bag on her head and walking (very hard to do for a 2 year old!).


Here you are supposed to throw the bean bag, then run over to it and jump over it:


These exercises are always then followed by some stretching on the mats:


After the stretching, Marco and his assistant (usually Erika) set up all the mats and blocks in the correct sequence and he goes over what you're supposed to do at each station.

Here you are supposed to climb up the block of mats, jump down, and raise up your arms when you land and go "ta da!"


Here, she is supposed to be crawling up a wall with her feet until she is "standing" on her hands. Although she wasn't that cooperative this particular day, now she can do this entirely on her own.


Doing tuck jumps on the big red bouncy mat (one of her favorites):


Here she is swinging on the uneven bars. They have now progressed to the kids jumping up and holding their arms stiff on top of the bar so that their bellies are pressed into it (Cecilia can't do this yet):


Walking on the high balance beam. There is also a low balance beam. The very first day of class, Cecilia walked across it fast, with no problems. However, now she has developed a healthy fear of it, and needs us to hold her body or her hands the whole way.


This 45-minute gymnastics class is followed by swim class. Needless to say, usually we rush home for some lunch and then all settle in for a family nap.