Partner games and exercises (not only) for children: 5 videos

We use the following five pla­y­ful exer­ci­ses to tra­in chil­dren aged 8–12. They are also sui­table for tra­i­ning at home. We have cho­sen a vari­e­ty of move­ments which deve­lop stren­gth, spe­ed and coor­di­nati­on, and are usu­ally sui­table for part­ners of dif­fe­rent sizes and stren­gths. Some of them are pure­ly coo­pe­ra­ti­ve exer­ci­ses, whi­le some are very com­pe­ti­ti­ve. You can find more ide­as for games and exer­ci­ses for chil­dren (and adults) in our videos here:

TEDDY BEAR – PARTNER EXERCISE FOR FALLS

You may know the “ted­dy bear” as a basic exer­ci­se for falls, but it is much more fun with two! This video con­ta­ins two vari­ati­ons, indi­vi­du­al and in pairs. Tips: Round your back and try to move effort­les­s­ly so that your but­tocks and legs, which rise into the air when you fall, will want to sit back on the ground on the­ir own.

Tug-of-War

This vari­ati­on of tug-of-war is not for tra­i­ning stren­gth, but spe­ed. Actu­al tug­ging almost never hap­pens. Tips: If you have enou­gh spa­ce, try to vary your distan­ce from the belt. As a star­ting sig­nal, you can use a thi­rd per­son or a timer.

BALANCING AND Squats

These two exer­ci­ses focus on per­ce­i­ving not only your own wei­ght and move­ment, but also your part­ner’s – so you can do them suc­cess­fully regar­dless of age. The gre­a­ter your dispa­ri­ty in hei­ght and wei­ght, the har­der the exer­ci­ses will be, but it can also be done by an adult with a ten-year-old child (tes­ted by our teachers).

 

  1. The balan­cing in the first part of the video usu­ally invol­ves a forearm-to-forearm grip, but if this is dif­ficult for you (or one of you has a stron­ger forearm), try using a belt like we do in the video. Tips: Try to relax your arm as much as possi­ble and feel as if you are sit­ting down. If you can, try other move­ments with your partner!
  2. Squat back-to-back. Tip: Stand rela­ti­ve­ly far apart, start with your but­tocks at the same hei­ght and lean into your part­ner’s back.

JUmping over feet

This is ano­ther spe­ed exer­ci­se based on reflexes (and some­o­ne who can han­dle coor­di­na­ted jum­ping), but this time no one wins: the sit­ting part­ner just chan­ges the spe­ed and rhy­thm so that the exer­ci­se is challen­ging enou­gh for the jum­per. Tips: It is really not about win­ning; the sit­ting part­ner should stay on top. Be care­ful at first! We recom­mend a flat sur­fa­ce and bare feet.

ANIMAL WHEELBARROW

This paired exer­ci­se will test your dex­te­ri­ty and stren­gth (main­ly your core): it can be challen­ging regar­dless of age. Tips: First, the ani­mal should practi­ce wal­king to the side by itself. The exer­ci­se is com­pa­ra­ble to or easier than a clas­sic whe­el­barrow, but the crab / dog is deman­ding in terms of stren­gth and coor­di­nati­on. The part­ners can also be une­ven­ly matched (eg child / adult), if you cho­o­se the right roles 🙂

Enjoy yourselves!

Napsal: Adam Nohejl