Budderfly Posted January 19, 2004 Share Posted January 19, 2004 What ever you do....DONT ask a large group of 4-7 year olds what they want to do. They will go crazy. Instead give them "choices." They can pick this or that....always keep control and never turn you back. Do alot of talking. That said, Go out and buy a long jump rope, tie it to a rail and have each kid take turns...Builds coordination and leg strength. Have the older kids "jump in" A good point. If you ask them you're going to have a dozen little hands up in the air all wanting to play different things. Drills are a good way to keep them focused. Be proactive, all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ialwaysgethit Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 play related games and have fun, a quiz maybe win prizes and incentative to look forward to comming back and possible bring some friends oliver willison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane Doe Posted January 30, 2004 Author Share Posted January 30, 2004 Hee hee hee! Started the classes finally. What a blast! We have been having a great time. The kids are great and after the last experience I had with my own children's MA instructor I didn't think it could be this good. He couldn't control them and that is why I think I was sooooooo nervous . Apparently children don't have to be swinging from rafters to have a good time and NEWS BULLETIN! they can be learning something at the same time! Thanks for all your great advice. It made a huge difference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kotegashiNeo Posted February 1, 2004 Share Posted February 1, 2004 I have tons of games lots of this stuff is from dave kovar some I have come up with. First thing get a pool noodle they are soft don't worry. Then pick one child to be it, then pick a part of the body nothing to specific like legs arms body never head. Then have the one child chase the others around after making clear boundries. If a child is tagged you can make them do their belt level kata until a fellow student runs up and whispers your awesome in their ear or you ask them a question about karate which they answer correctly. Okay next with the pool noodle jump duck dodge. self explanitory ? Make a circle around you then noodle high low down the centre with kiai they move so fun. Next put noodle down red ninja green ninja. Simple enough have students do basics (kicks are fun) while you yell out red ninja freeze or green ninja go or yellow ninja slow motion or the super fun rewind ninja. You want more got tons Ninja focus game. Get a circle of kids tell them to close thier eyes at which point you are going tap some of them on the shoulder which make them a ninja. The kids you have tapped on the shoulder will begin to wink at the others and if you get winked at you count to three fall back and yell ya got me! The kids that weren't tapped on the shoulder look around very carefully and if they see someone blinking they quickly put thier hands up you stop and they get to guess who the ninjas are. I have have tons more if you need it Kisshu fushin oni te hotoke kokoro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanjusko Posted February 4, 2004 Share Posted February 4, 2004 I didn't know that she was running a YMCA day camp. Ninja Freeze? Tsk..tsk..tsk.. Howz about you teach them martial arts? I dunno, just a suggestion...you know they did sign up to learn martial arts and not you know...how to play games. Ever think that maybe a six year old child is too young to learn martial arts? Ever consider saying no to a parent when they want their seven year old in your class and keeping the respect and honor in the system rather than selling out? 'cause that's basically what the instructors who teach children are doing, selling out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane Doe Posted February 5, 2004 Author Share Posted February 5, 2004 Thanks for your opinion nathanjusko. I guess everybody has a different definition of 'selling out'. I guess you are probably thankful that legislators 'sold out' when they banned caning in schools. Cause basically anyone who doesn't beat a kid when they are bad in school doesn't really want them to behave and learn something. How about those teachers who 'sold out' and sought out new ways and means of dealing with kids with learning disorders or physical handicaps? I guess if the kids can't learn the three R's by route repetition and memory they really aren't going to school and it is just 'babysitting'. Nice button pushing nathan, good on ya! Kind of scary, isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crash Posted February 5, 2004 Share Posted February 5, 2004 jane doe, dont let nathanjusko's comment bother you, its sad but some ppl think like that, and you will run across comments like that from time to time. (it seems that some ppl see kids classes as just being a way to pay the bills and a waste of time that could be spent on "real" m.a. training.) you have to just shrug those types off......oh, dodge ball is usually fun for the kids, get one or two of the large oversized type balls. and if you dont have an asst. let one of the parents help out. they usually enjoy getting involved. rules are if they get hit in the body their "out", if they get hit in the arms they must play with that arm behind their back, if hit in the leg they must hop on the other until hit again. and so forth. have fun and try to play many games that build coordination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelica d Posted February 5, 2004 Share Posted February 5, 2004 In our dojo we do have some problems with the really really young children (some only 3/4 I think) because its true, they do wander off a lot and try to mess around a bit. I was teaching some tiny beginners on Tuesday and one of them kept jumping around screaming 'My FEET HURT!' In the end I made him sit out, but as soon as we started to play some games his feet were miraculously cured. I guess all kids are different though..some of them were really eager to learn even at such a young age. I think the key is to have a bit of both..do a few basics and so on and then test them on what they know or have a game. That way they'll stay interested (hopefully!) and have a good time, which is the main idea with smaller kids IMHO. Then, when they're a bit older they'll probably get better at concentrating and learn a lot faster. "Weaseling out of things is what separates us from the animals . . . except the weasel."- Homer J Simpson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanjusko Posted February 8, 2004 Share Posted February 8, 2004 My only problem is the instructors that give kids classes and don't teach a single thing about true martial arts, a person should not receive a belt based on their knowledge of "ninja freeze" or dodgeball. I have no problems running a daycare or a babysitting type environment. However, I do have a problem with these 9-10 year old black belts who don't know jack !%!$ about martial arts, that's all. If you are going to run a "martial arts" class then you should teach martial arts, not dodgeball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kotegashiNeo Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 Did you ever think that these games develop the skill needed to be proficient at martial arts. You seem like the type of person that disagrees with teaching karate to young children, so what are you doing on this thread. Are you here to share some drills or are you here to gives us your opinion on something entirely different? If the later is you then please start a new thread on the topic. I have another really fun drill that builds upper body strength as well as being fun. It is called trip the tiger, get everyone to partner up then face each other in push-up position. The goal is to trip your partner by pulling their arms out from under them so much fun for adults too Kisshu fushin oni te hotoke kokoro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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