Pre-School Stretching

[coachmolly]

I teach a pre-school class with a young guy- no formal gymnastics training, likes the gym, just kind of got thrown into the whole rec. coaching thing. He usually does the stretching with the kids- including bridges (these are 4-5 year olds) which makes me cringe, but he learned this was okay from the HC so I just deal with it. Yesterday in class he decides it would be a good idea to go around the circle while the kids were in their straddles and pull their legs father apart and push them down. One kid started to cry. This didn't sit well with me and I think he could sense that, and went on to say he wasn't pushing hard, would never push those little ones hard, etc. I believe him, he seems like a nice enough guy, but I really just didn't like it. These are just ordinary pre-school kids, not pre-team track kids, and they probably won't stick with gym beyond this school year. Personally, I try to avoid "helping" them stretch, besides ensuring they are in the correct body position, until the pre-team levels at least (unless a kid specifically asks). So maybe I'm just a little too strict in my own personal philosophies.
He asked if I thought that was too harsh and I told him maybe a little, just explaining that it might not be the best move from a developmental standpoint and also went on to explain that bridges aren't exactly the best for children of that age.
So what this long winded thread is attempting to ask, what would you have done in this situation? Do you think pushing down 4-5 year olds (and a few 3 year olds) in their stretches is okay? What are your own personal philosophies on stretching? Thanks!

 

[gymdog]

You should ask him to sit down with you and plan a stretching routine before class. At 4 and 5 some kids developmentally can't do straddle stretch very well (legs roll inwards) if they go all the way down so it is important to focus on sitting in straddle the right way. Working on stretched (arms stretching tall), standing pike, and standing straddle stretches are also good. The older preschoolers can also do lunge rocks (on one knee, step the front foot far enough out, and rock forward and back pressing the hips to the ground). More advanced five year olds can also work on splits stretching and straddle stretching, but only if they can maintain the right positions. Strength in the positions is important. Seal stretch (on stomach) is okay.

 

[10.0]

Our stretch is always fun for the pre schoolers, we usually play a game for 2-3 minutes that is actually a cardio warm-up (hula hoops, pop poms, scarves playing butterfly) then we do pike count to 5, flex and point toes, butterflies (flap wings) straddle we make a cookie getting ingredients off feet and knees putting it in the middle and putting it in the oven (middle stretch) and eating it off your toes, knees etc. We make fishes with our wrists and write our names with our ankles.

I guess because like you said it is preschool it is supposed to be fun andI find that regular stretching bores them to tears and they complain about it hurting, by making it into a game they enjoy it and do it correctly. Maybe since he isn't used to working with little ones he doesn't quite know how to handle it, maybe you should suggest something like that.

As for bridges I only allow the more advanced kids (usually 5 y/o) to try them and only if they can push up all the way off their heads on their own and they have to look physically proportioned more like a child than a toddler to be allowed, some kids develop more slowly than others and if their head looks larger than their bodies doing a bridge is not a good idea. The rest do crabs. As far as pushing this is not a Russian training center so no way. Our parents pay for good safe FUN, not tears and pain at that age.